MIPS

	This is the JargonFile ^(V4.00) entry for MIPS - Next: misbug, Prev: minifloppies
:MIPS: /mips/ /n./ [abbreviation] 1. A measure of computing speed; formally, Million Instructions Per Second (thats 10^6 per second, not 2^(20)!); often rendered by hackers as Meaningless Indication of Processor Speed or in other unflattering ways. This joke expresses a nearly universal attitude about the value of most benchmark claims, said attitude being one of the great cultural divides between hackers and marketroids. The singular is sometimes 1 MIP even though this is clearly etymologically wrong. See also KIPS and GIPS. 2. Computers, especially large computers, considered abstractly as sources of computrons. "This is just a workstation; the heavy MIPS are hidden in the basement." 3. The corporate name of a particular RISC-chip company; among other things, they designed the processor chips used in DECs 3100 workstation series. 4. Acronym for Meaningless Information per Second (a joke, prob. from sense 1).
* (text is auto-included via JargonExtension by mutante using jargon with VERSION 4.0.0, 24 JUL 1996* - JargonFile by Eric S. Raymond is in the public domain)*