Free memory kernel 2.4.x

[Clived]

I am running kernel 2.4.14 on my Slackware 7.1 box. I have 288 megs of ram, but I notice that even with a minimal number of applications running, the free command shows most of my free space being used as buffers and seemingly not being released.
This was never a problem until last night while trying to compile kernel 2.4.14. It would seem that my installation borked because of lack of memory, or so it seems.I had to reboot, freed up my memory and completed the 2.4.14 install.
I am just curious if anyone else has similar concerns or experiences

 

[ifincham]

Hi,

This is the way the kernel is designed. When any part of physical memory is not in use, the kernel attempts to put it to work as a disk buffer cache. This grows and
shrinks dynamically to use the memory available, although priority is given to using the memory for paging. So, on a linux system, you would never see lots of 'unused' memory. When you load apps the system should adjust the buffers accordingly. If you are compiling under X, next time open two xterm windows - one for compiling the kernel and the other to do 'free' or 'cat /proc/meminfo' commands before and after you start the kernel build process. You should see the buffer size adjust itself accordingly.

Hope this helps

 

[Clived]

Thanks ifincham

I appreciate your comments. Wasn't too sure about that, but your explanation clears that up in my mind