Re: Gradual Increase in memory usage

["Rodolfo J. Paiz" <rpaiz simpaticus com>]

At 09:13 2/4/2004, you wrote:
> I am not sure if this is a problem with the kernel or due to the nature of
> the programs I am running....
> From a fresh boot, memory usage averages around the 170 MB  and as time
> passes it gradually increases to grab nearly all the available RAM (500MB)

This is a FAQ.

In short: it is not a bad thing. Linux sees free memory, and rather than 
wasting idle resources uses it as disk cache and for buffers. So while the 
memory is being used, it is not /in use/ as far as your interpretation of 
the above. It will be released to applications if/when you need it at a 
moment's notice.

Type the command "free" and read it carefully, especially the second line 
which shows the effect of subtracting the cache/buffers. I'm sure you'll 
find that you are actually using only what you thought.


> Peter Santiago         peters psinergybbs com
> My website:            www.psinergybbs.com
> My spamtrap address:   r34987y psinergybbs com
>
> !****************************************!
> !   Do what you will with this tagline,  !
> !     just don't bother me about it!     !
> !****************************************!

I'll be happy not to bother you about the tagline. However, if you want to 
be courteous and prevent the tagline from bothering /me/, then please add 
two dashes and a space (-- ) at the beginning of the line above Peter 
Santiago. This is the official, standard signature delimiter, and will tell 
most intelligent mail clients to disregard this part of the text when 
replying. See my sig and the fedora-list footer for examples.


--
Rodolfo J. Paiz
rpaiz simpaticus com
http://www.simpaticus.com