Linux has a funny way or dealing with memory that makes disk
access efficient, but may cause much confusion on the users part.
Memory not in use by a program may be used by linux for disk
buffering. Don't worry, though. If your apps need more memory,
linux will release some from the disk buffers. It's just that
if you don't need a certain chunk of memeory, linux will
put it to use, rather than let it go to waste.
That's why if you upgrade from 32 to 64 Megs of RAM,
and just run the same apps, linux will seem to be using more memory.
Bryan Scaringe
> Yes, I'm losing my memory to the big programs that I'm opening up (ie:
> many Netscape windows). That's not a problem -- that's the purpose for
> having 32 megs of ram with a 48 meg swap partition. The problem is that
> when I shut down all the programs, I don't always get all of my swap
> back. The only way to get back to normal memory use is to reboot (can
> you say "Windows 95?" -- brrrr). Is there a way to clean out the memory
> buffers or cache so that I can reclaim it back after the programs have
> shut down?
>
> Brian
>
