How popular are the terms "software" and "hardware" outside the computer world?

Hardware does have an ordinary meaning: “[t]ools, machinery, and other durable equipment”.

Software only has its technical meaning, which was coined by analogy to hardware.

As you noted, these words have now developed broader, metaphorical meaning, so that we can, for example, talk about the human mind as software of the body.

Wetware is another term that has been coined by analogy.

You can research these words fully by googling [ define hardware ], etc., or by visiting OneLook.com and searching from there.

The terms have sometimes been coopted by other fields, perhaps in places where computer geeks were prevalent. For example, psychologists talking about differences in patient behavior due to the hardware (i.e. physiological effects) vs. software (i.e. mental state).

Your example seems like it could fall into usage among like-minded folks who are playing with language, but perhaps not as a standard usage...