• FishFace@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    The RAM impact of the OS is nothing compared to that of modern apps which are all browser-based.

    • InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      True, but if you are starved for ram, then minimizing the OS use gives more for the rest of the bloated apps you cannot control.

      • FishFace@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Or you could focus that energy on cleaning out your browser tabs/closing other applications every once in a while and you’d have a better effect :P

        This laptop has 32GB of RAM and regularly runs dry due to running both Chrome and Firefox, VScode, Zoom and whatever other random crap. And tuning systemd-oomd to walk the line between “Using 16GB of RAM will instantly kill the entire desktop shell” and “Once you’ve used all 32GB the kernel OOM killer will free something up in 3-5 business decades” is painful too.

          • FishFace@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            Well, yes. This distinction is only meaningful now on really old hardware where upgrading RAM or replacing the machine is not an option (maybe it has some other critical bit of hardware or, more likely, it’s a hobby project and the owner just wants to keep using it as long as possible for fun and satisfaction)

            The difference between the minimal RAM usage of a lightweight Linux installation and a Windows installation is the cost of less than £50 of modern RAM, never mind whatever old stuff is needed for an older machine.

        • Shareni@programming.dev
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          2 days ago

          Chrome and Firefox, VScode, Zoom and whatever other random crap

          So chrome, Firefox, chrome, chrome, and probably more chrome