huge memory usage while doing nothing

alizta · 05-11-2004, 12:29 PM

hello,

i just recognized that my linux distro (i'm using fedora core 2 test 2) uses more than 460 MB of ram (out of 512 MB) while doing absolutly nothing! what is this? have i misconfigured something?
i have also seen that a gnome panel applet as tiny as geyes eats up more than 8MB of ram! are these debug versions?

DrOzz · 05-11-2004, 02:19 PM

this is a very common question with people when they first see this huge amount of
memory usage, but just to relieve you its not actually all being used per se ...
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...631#post475631

read that link about a little article i wrote about the memory management and you'll
have a much better understanding ..

vinay_s_s · 05-11-2004, 02:22 PM

since u have more ram, it tries to use it more efficiently , no use of swap at all

alizta · 05-11-2004, 02:30 PM

thank you both. i already guessed something like that. what made me unsure was that my distro actually used swapspace (around 20MB). but i guess that was swapped out on a very memory intense action and would be swapped back if used.

Tinkster · 05-11-2004, 02:40 PM

Not necessarily ... Linux will swap out huge things
that weren't used in a while, even if there's no actual
shortage of physical memory. For instance, if you opened
Mozilla and didn't use it all day :)

Cheers,
Tink