Footprint

From JargonWiki

The Jargon File Parts of this article are based on the Jargon File, v. 4.4.7, a public domain document of hacker jargon.

footprint

Usage: n. Etymology: IBM Derivation: IBM See Also: toeprint

footprint: n.

1. The floor or desk area taken up by a piece of hardware.
2. [IBM] The audit trail (if any) left by a crashed program (often in plural, footprints). See also toeprint.
3. RAM footprint: The minimum amount of RAM which an OS or other program takes; this figure gives one an idea of how much will be left for other applications. How actively this RAM is used is another matter entirely. Recent tendencies to featuritis and software bloat can expand the RAM footprint of an OS to the point of making it nearly unusable in practice. [This problem is, thankfully, limited to operating systems so stupid that they don't do virtual memory -- ESR]

Sources

Public Domain This article is in the public domain and is not subject to copyright, trademark, or any other legal protection of intellectual property. Any and all user contributions to this page are also immediately dedicated to the public domain. Editors of this page must accede to these terms as special conditions of the standard editing privileges.