Re: [PLUG] memory usage in Linux

[Steve Litt via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

On Tue, 19 May 2020 14:35:08 -0400
Eric Lucas via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:

> I'm running Kubuntu 18.04 [1] on a Dell Laptop with a 2-core i7 [2]
> and 16 GB of RAM (the max apparently.)
> I tend to leave lots of windows open on two or three of my four
> virtual desktops.
> Sometimes things get slow (like participating in a zoom chat with a
> few dozen fellow homebrewers last night.)
> I installed 'cockpit' to see what's up. All is okay except for RAM. It
> shows near 16GB of RAM used.
> I seem to recall (from years ago) that Linux "hoovers up" all the RAM
> and then parcels it out to applications as needed.
> If so, what's the point of telling me how much RAM I have used if it's
> always 99+%?
> How do others monitor and/or manage RAM usage in Linux?


[slitt@mydesk prog]$ cat /proc/meminfo | head -n6
MemTotal:       15569964 kB
MemFree:         4435020 kB
MemAvailable:   10606440 kB
Buffers:         2882680 kB
Cached:          2928932 kB
SwapCached:        23352 kB

I'm not completely hoovered up: 4.43GB RAM is just plain free.

I notice you use KDE. That's a sure resource hog. I use the very
lightweight OpenBox, which could account for part of the difference.
Also, I don't (except for when I Jitsi) use Chromium, which is perhaps
the biggest pig ever invented.


SteveT

Steve Litt 
May 2020 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques
     of the Successful Technologist
http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques
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