Re: Linux doesn't seem to manage memory very well

On Wed, 01 May 2024 06:32:18 -0400, James Harris <james.harris.1@gmail.com> wrote:

Not a question, just an observation.
I say that Linux doesn't seem to handle memory well because my laptop
had 8GB RAM (which, frankly, Windows seems to find perfectly adequate
for a similar workload). Under Linux the RAM would fill up and then swap
space would be used. Then the machine would become largely unresponsive
- e.g. taking minutes to switch between windows.
So I upgraded the RAM. It now has three times as much (i.e. 24GB)! But
even so, RAM has still steadily filled up until reaching the full 24GB.
What's more, it's now showing 4.8GB of swap space in use.

Likely you're using a system that's configured for maximum total throughput,
not best response time.
Create a file, /etc/sysctl.d/tales.conf with the contents ...
# Reduce applications being swapped
vm.swappiness=1
# Don't shrink the inode cache
vm.vfs_cache_pressure=50
Then run the command "sysctl --system" (as root).
See https://rudd-o.com/linux-and-free-software/tales-from-responsivenessland-why-linux-feels-slow-and-how-to-fix-that
for an explanation.
Regards, Dave Hodgins