routinely used to compete for slots, rather like Christmas shoppers
competing for scarce parking spaces.

:breedle: /n./ See {feep}.

:bring X to its knees: /v./ To present a machine, operating
system, piece of software, or algorithm with a load so extreme or
{pathological} that it grinds to a halt. "To bring a MicroVAX
to its knees, try twenty users running {vi} -- or four running
{EMACS}." Compare {hog}.

:brittle: /adj./ Said of software that is functional but easily
broken by changes in operating environment or configuration, or by
any minor tweak to the software itself. Also, any system that
responds inappropriately and disastrously to abnormal but expected
external stimuli; e.g., a file system that is usually totally
scrambled by a power failure is said to be brittle. This term is
often used to describe the results of a research effort that were
never intended to be robust, but it can be applied to commercially
developed software, which displays the quality far more often than
it ought to. Oppose {robust}.

:broadcast storm: /n./ An incorrect packet broadcast on a
network that causes most hosts to respond all at once, typically
with wrong answers that start the process over again. See
{network meltdown}; compare {mail storm}.

:brochureware: /n./ Planned but non-existent product like
{vaporware}, but with the added implication that marketing is
actively selling and promoting it (they've printed brochures).