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

On Wed, 01 May 2024 11:32:18 +0100, James Harris 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).

I say that you are mistaken, and that Linux handles memory quite adequately
(but differently from how Windows handles memory)

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.

Ahhh.... now you describe your problem symptoms. Perhaps, with more
details, we can help you get the sort of performance that Linux can
properly provide.

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.

Sounds like a leaky application, but without more info, we can't help.

To give a counter-example, here's a snapshot of my desktop system's
usage (taken from top(1) )
  Tasks: 302 total,   1 running, 301 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
  %Cpu(s):  0.0 us,  0.8 sy,  0.0 ni, 99.2 id,  0.0 wa,  0.0 hi,  0.0 si,  0.0 st
  MiB Mem :  30096.1 total,  25727.6 free,   2156.9 used,   2211.6 buff/cache
  MiB Swap:  65536.0 total,  65536.0 free,      0.0 used.  27297.9 avail Mem

While I have more memory than you do (32Gb as compared to your 24Gb), I have
302 processes running and only about 4Gb of memory in use. Of my 64Gb of swap
space, /none/ is in use.

My previous desktop system(s) had less processing power, less memory, and less
swap space, and ran lively, without memory or response time problems.

So, if you want help, how about providing some details.

HTH
--
Lew Pitcher
"In Skills We Trust"