download

3 definitions found

download - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  download
      v 1: transfer a file or program from a central computer to a
           smaller computer or to a computer at a remote location
           [ant: upload]

download - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  download
  downloading
  
     <jargon> To transfer data from one computer to another.
     Downloading usually refers to transfer from a larger "host"
     system (especially a server or mainframe) to a smaller
     "client" system, especially a microcomputer or specialised
     peripheral, and "upload" usually means from small to large.
  
     Others hold that, technically, download means "receive" and
     upload means "send", irrespective of the size of the systems
     involved.
  
     Note that in communications between ground and space,
     space-to-earth transmission is always "down" and the reverse
     "up", regardless of size.  So far the in-space machines have
     invariably been smaller; thus the upload/download distinction
     has been reversed from its usual sense.
  
     [Jargon File]
  
     (2003-11-04)
  

download - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  download
   vt.
  
     To transfer data or (esp.) code from a far-away system (especially a
     larger host system) over a digital communications link to a nearby
     system (especially a smaller client system. Oppose upload.
  
     Historical use of these terms was at one time associated with
     transfers from large timesharing machines to PCs or peripherals
     (download) and vice-versa (upload). The modern usage relative to the
     speaker (rather than as an indicator of the size and role of the
     machines) evolved as machine categories lost most of their former
     functional importance.