Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 23:45:19 +0000 From: Nik Clayton <nik@freebsd.org> To: Ben Smithurst <ben@FreeBSD.org> Cc: Nik Clayton <nik@freebsd.org>, freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FAQ addition Message-ID: <20000713234519.C11669@kilt.nothing-going-on.org> In-Reply-To: <20000713213435.M48641@strontium.scientia.demon.co.uk>; from ben@FreeBSD.org on Thu, Jul 13, 2000 at 09:34:35PM %2B0100 References: <396A79E9.F3AD3D1@home.com> <20000713011414.B11472@kilt.nothing-going-on.org> <20000713213435.M48641@strontium.scientia.demon.co.uk>
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On Thu, Jul 13, 2000 at 09:34:35PM +0100, Ben Smithurst wrote: > I'm intending to add something like this, > > --- book.sgml 2000/07/11 21:36:22 1.70 > +++ book.sgml 2000/07/13 20:32:50 > @@ -8411,6 +8411,20 @@ > </answer></qandaentry> > > <qandaentry><question> > +<para>Why does <command>top</command> show very little free memory when I > +have very few programs running?</para></question><answer> > + > +<para>The simple answer is that free memory is wasted memory. > +Any memory that your programs don't actively allocate is used > +within the FreeBSD kernel as disk cache. The values shown by > +<command>top</command> labelled as <emphasis>Inact</emphasis>, > +<emphasis>Cache</emphasis>, and <emphasis>Buf</emphasis> are all > +cached data at different aging levels. You actually want as little > +<emphasis>Free</emphasis> memory as possible.</para> > + > +</answer></qandaentry> > + > +<qandaentry><question> That's probably sufficiently detailed. However, please follow the formatting conventions described in the Primer (see the source for the primer or the handbook for examples). I know the bulk of the FAQ doesn't follow these conventions, but that's because we haven't done the work yet. N -- Internet connection, $19.95 a month. Computer, $799.95. Modem, $149.95. Telephone line, $24.95 a month. Software, free. USENET transmission, hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Thinking before posting, priceless. Somethings in life you can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard. -- Graham Reed, in the Scary Devil Monastery To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
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