Some malloc() implementations return memory to the OS during free(). Many don't. For example, tcmalloc in its default configuration never returns memory to th

Some malloc() implementations return memory to the OS during free(). Many don't. For example, tcmalloc in its default configuration never returns memory to the OS. Also, what is "really slow" in the context of nethack? I'm willing to bet that you could malloc and free till the cows come home and never even notice in nethack. I bet the whole program doesn't take up more than a few megs of memory anyway.