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1 • Swap file on traditional hard disks (by Explorer09 on 2022-11-21 01:48:37 GMT from Taiwan)
Just to say one personal experience: I used to like the swap partition approach as used in Linux operating systems rather than the swap files as used in Windows. Today it no longer matters, but the dynamic size of the swap file in Windows often fragmented my hard disk partition, and I had defragmented my disks a lot of times. The fixed size of the swap partition prevents fragmentation of the disk partition, which could matter if you are still using an old, CMR hard disks. Modern SMR hard disks and SSDs do not need defragmentation (actually defragmenting on them would do more harm than good). So it's more free to use swap files today. Note that it's preferred to set up swap files on SSDs than hard disks, if you have SSDs available.
2 • Swap and hibernation (by swaponoroff on 2022-11-21 02:52:16 GMT from Australia)
I only use a swap partition because of the hibernation feature (I have enough RAM so it doesn't need to be used for anything else) but is this also possible with swap files, given they are on that partition that is hibernating?
3 • Grub2 /boot partitions are EFI(fat/vfat) formated not ext4 (by Scott on 2022-11-21 03:23:52 GMT from United States)
I think the Fedora 37 review has an error.
The UEFI interface needs a EFI system partition that is typically mapped to /boot:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/EFI_system_partition#Typical_mount_points
4 • Fedora 37 boot partition (by K. Engels on 2022-11-21 04:30:04 GMT from United States)
/boot and /boot/EFI are two separate partitions in Fedora. /boot is Ext4 like noted in the review.
5 • swap resize (by Titus_Groan on 2022-11-21 05:35:12 GMT from New Zealand)
just for the record I just tried this.
using the Distros' system GUI disk management tool* on a running system:
unmount the swap partition - check.
resize swap partition to a smaller value - check.
format swap partition - check.
remount swap partition - check.
reboot and not have a 90sec timeout for fstab partition mismatch - check.
unmount the swap partition again- check.
resize swap partition to original value - check.
format swap partition - check.
remount swap partition - check.
reboot and not have a 90sec timeout for fstab partition mismatch - check.
how hard is that.
Note: it is also possible to mount a swap partition (if it exists) in a Live system, should the system be *lite* on RAM, to allow the GUI desktop to work. or create one on a USB stick for use.
* not gparted!
6 • Swap file/partition (by Romane on 2022-11-21 07:10:10 GMT from Australia)
The way that have structured my systems (3 with multi-boot) is that each system has its own dedicated swap partition. Probably all wasted space, as I have 20Gb of memory and only light usage of the system, so swap never gets touched/used.
i run with an NVME drive for the system, and a rust-disk for /boot and swap (my motherboard is to old to boot from anything except a drive at /dev/sda, and this arrangement means that the system itself can run from the PCIe drive), which all still leaves me heaps of spare disk-space once up and running.
7 • @Jesse Smith about swap files (by DidierSpaier on 2022-11-21 09:24:53 GMT from France)
Hello,
There is no inconvenience setting up a swap file in a BTRFS filesystem properly configured as indicated in their documentation: https://btrfs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/Swapfile.html
In Slint that I maintain, when using BTRFS by default copy on write and zstd compression are enabled, however the main volume contains a swap subvolume as shown by "findmnt /swap":
TARGET SOURCE FSTYPE OPTIONS
/swap /dev/sda4[/@swap] btrfs rw,noatime,compress=zstd:3,space_cache=v2,subvol
Inside this subvolume a swap file of size 1G is set up this way during installation (the varaible SLINT is the mount point of the to be installed system):
mount -o subvol=/@swap,compress=zstd:3,noatime $ROOTNAME $SLINT/swap
truncate -s 0 $SLINT/swap/swapfile
# +C=no copy-on-write
# +m=no compression
chattr +C +m $SLINT/swap/swapfile
dd if=/dev/zero of=$SLINT/swap/swapfile bs=${MEGA}c count=1024 status=none
chmod 0600 $SLINT/swap/swapfile
mkswap $SLINT/swap/swapfile
Additonally, a "swap in zram" ram disk is set which practically more than double the usable RAM vs the physically installed as shown below:
root[/]# swapon
NAME TYPE SIZE USED PRIO
/swap/swapfile file 1024M 0B 5
/dev/zram1 partition 15,3G 0B 32567
root[/]# LANG=C free -th
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 7.7Gi 1.3Gi 4.3Gi 281Mi 2.0Gi 5.8Gi
Swap: 16Gi 0B 16Gi
Total: 23Gi 1.3Gi 20Gi
I keep a small swap file to let user know that the system being less responsive in the unlikely case that the swap in zram becomes full and thus the swap file be used, the OOM killer will soon kill some processes if nothing is done to avoid that.
No issue found or reported bu users os far.
8 • Shared swap file (by John on 2022-11-21 09:41:20 GMT from United Kingdom)
I run multiple distros, sharing the same partition for data. I have a shared swap file on this partition. It took a couple of minutes to set up.
9 • Firefox on Fedora 37 (by Appalachian on 2022-11-21 11:02:00 GMT from United States)
Lately I've been thinking of trying Fedora on my main machine so this week I tried out a couple of versions of it (flagship Gnome and the i3 spin) on a test machine. Everything works well enough, with the exception of Firefox. No matter how I launch it (could be from a launcher or command line), I can't get it to run.
When I use the launcher there is no response at all. Firefox never appears on the screen. When I launch from command line there is no output of any sort, and eventually I have to kill the process. Once again Firefox is never seen on the screen. Neither updating, nor uninstalling and reinstalling the app, did anything to fix the problem. I had to resort to removing Firefox and installing the Flatpak version to make it work.
10 • Fedora 37 Workstation (by Fedora 37 Workstation on 2022-11-21 11:02:19 GMT from India)
I prefer Fedora 37 Workstation because of it offers a vanilla GNOME experience. It includes all work flow improvements in in GNOME 43 - instead of customizing some parts.
11 • Swap partition / files (by DaveT on 2022-11-21 12:02:04 GMT from United Kingdom)
I stopped bothering with swap partitions on the desktop years ago, never had any problems.
If you do use swap and find it is getting used a lot than you need more RAM!
Servers are a different kettle of fish. Use a swap partition.
12 • swap (by James on 2022-11-21 12:10:15 GMT from United States)
I put both, depends no the age of the machine and the installed hardware.
13 • zram/ZRAM/ZRam/zRam (it is written lots of ways) (by Tim on 2022-11-21 13:19:22 GMT from United Kingdom)
Garuda linux uses zram for swap. Probably discussing its pros and cons needs a column of its own but any brief thoughts?
14 • swap partition, but I don't use it (by Matt on 2022-11-21 13:40:44 GMT from United States)
My new workstation has 64 GB of ram and a discreet GPU. It has a 1 GB swap partition, which was the swap partition size the OS installer chose for me. The swap partition will probably never be used. My old workstation had a lot less memory as well as an integrated GPU that took up some memory, so the swap partition was bigger (equal to memory size).
15 • @13 Tim about zram (by Didier Spaier on 2022-11-21 13:46:56 GMT from France)
Same in Slint, but I also install a 1GB swap file, see post #7 for the rationale.
16 • zRAM (by Jesse on 2022-11-21 14:35:36 GMT from Canada)
@13: We did publish an article on zRAM, how to set it up, and some of the considerations involved: https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20201012#tips
17 • swap partition or file and size etc (by Otis on 2022-11-21 14:42:52 GMT from United States)
Modern new machines still ship with swap as OEM. It's there and seems to be reported by system monitors as full as RAM does too, but mainly as a sort of "high tide" mark like we see on the beach or rocks. Honestly it does a simple but good service to the system. Set and forget or even forget in the first place unless you're trying to breathe life into a pretty old machine with small storage space and anemic RAM/CPU/GPU etc. In those cases you're likely going to be doing a bit of regular maintenance to keep it fresh as possible anyway (the old 2 x RAM was my credo early on).
18 • Swap (by Roger on 2022-11-21 18:34:05 GMT from France)
It depends what hardware I am using and which distro, sometimes file or partition or both or no swap.
Because we use mostly Linux Mint Mate and it's only for office work there is a swap file on the same SSD.
For older PC with a HD there will be a swap partition, sometimes on a second HD.
Other way around for a newer PC with enough Ram there will be no swap.
For testing it's a matter of choice and what we want to find out.
19 • Swap (by Crackly Dan on 2022-11-21 20:09:04 GMT from Canada)
On a laptop I make a swap the same size as RAM for hibernation. On the desktop I use whatever the installer chooses. I manually set sysctl variable vm.swappiness=10 to limit swap usage. My desktop has 32GB RAM and with the sysctl variable I thought I'd seen the last of swap usage so I was surprised the other day when it was using almost 10MB. I wasn't concerned and in fact I read the kernel can decide to store things in swap even with a ton of RAM at hand. Lastly, I have run my desktop without swap in the past and it didn't seem to impact performance.
20 • WattOS (by MrSparkleWonder on 2022-11-21 20:53:43 GMT from Mexico)
At long last, this fantastic distro is back, and just in time as I was distro hopping looking for 'my' distro. I thought I had found it in SpiralLinux LXQT but there is just something i don't like with LXQT, the feel or themeing is weird and then WattOS was revived. I am now happily running this distro, and recommend it to anyone with older hardware.
One thing i had to install which was missing was dbus-x11 as i encountered an error while trying to open a file as sudo. But otherwise, it is running great, bare bones, customizeable lean and mean LXDE distro.
love it
21 • Linux's useless Apppendix....I think.... (by tom joad. on 2022-11-21 22:26:37 GMT from Norway)
faceinthecrowd@galaxy-hp:~$ free -htl
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 11Gi 3.0Gi 6.5Gi 654Mi 2.1Gi 7.7Gi
Low: 11Gi 5.1Gi 6.5Gi
High: 0B 0B 0B
Swap: 975Mi 0B 975Mi
Total: 12Gi 3.0Gi 7.4Gi
That is what I have at the moment. And about every time I looked at that the results of that command...I have had a f$%^&*(g swap file! No partition, just a file. And I used to dump just remove the swap file. And after a bit I gave up doing that. I never, ever noticed a performance hit after I did that either. I am running Mint Cinnamon.
I have 12 gig of RAM on my laptop. My tower has 16 gig of RAM. I don't need a swap. As near as I can tell I never, ever use it. That file is totally pointless, a wasted use of RAM IMHO.
Why doesn't Linux, on the new install, check how much RAM is out there. And if that amount is over a certain required limit don't make a swap file. Or, during the install, ask if the user wants a swap file.
Yes, yes, I know one can during the install do a custom partition. That is a lot of work when the programmer could set it up my way. Not to mention a lot of users don't know how or will ever attempt doing that custom install.
22 • I trust Debian (by Ted E. Bear on 2022-11-22 00:28:46 GMT from Denmark)
@20:
One can easily make a minimal Debian install into whatever customized DE/WM they want. Debian's always around, vs. "other" distros which are here one day and gone the next.
I trust Debian.
23 • Swap (by penguinx86 on 2022-11-22 05:12:55 GMT from United States)
I've tried both swap files and swap partitions. Swap files seem to have better performance on a lightweight desktop system. I tried 8 and 16gb swap partitions, but it seems like barely 3gb ever gets used. Even running Virtualbox clients, I've never seen more than 4gb swap space used. I think a combo of a 4gb swap file and an 8gb swap partition is optimal. If you have the system resourses, why not? Better safe than sorry?
24 • @22, WattOS, I trust Debian (by Harry the Lizard on 2022-11-22 10:07:54 GMT from United States)
WattOS is Debian. Just like SpiralLinux, all the repositories are Debian. Sometimes people want to avoid the Debian installer and configuration and get something ready-to go. It's still Debian.
25 • Asus eee pc 4/8gb and swap (by MInuxLintEbianDedition on 2022-11-22 11:47:22 GMT from United Kingdom)
On the 3.73 GiB ssd of the eeepc 700, a 501 MB swap is most satisfying, leaving 3.23 GB for LMDE stripped down, and it's eversosatisfying those times (approx half) when they hibernate successfully.
Of course, if you still have your two 8MB bios boot boost partitions, you go for the 483MB swap option.
With bios boost, boot times of 40 seconds are a good mark.
Hibernate is less likely to succeed with bios boost, but can give you a 20 second resume.
Fastest I ever got these to boot to desktop is around 30 seconds, so a ten second time saving if hibernbating, Btw, shutdown is under 5 seconds, into hibernate more like 15.
With the 7.5GiB eee 701sd, Ive had three systems, i.e. lmde, debian, and devuan, each with own swap large enough to hibernate in, Had to make them share their /usr/share/icons partition though, because I ran out of inodes.
26 • Debian isn't always Debian... (by Otis on 2022-11-22 14:03:46 GMT from United States)
...despite the repos offered (and often relied upon).
Analogies can be distracting, but perhaps this one is not: I have a 1982 Harley Davidson (belt drive) frame, front assembly, frame, and customized rear spring hub. Other than that it's all Super V and other parts and systems.
Is it a Harley? Nope. Just the frame and a few other important pieces. It's my 40 year motorcycle project. Yes I get Harley parts when needed, but also many others as things wear out or need upgrading. Similarly many linux users have Knoppix or DogLinux or Feren or Siduction. Not Debian.
If they had Debian they'd have Debian and not those other distros "based" on Debian.
27 • swap (by brad on 2022-11-22 17:14:56 GMT from United States)
Most of the comments about swap do not seem to address the "usefulness" of hibernating a system when not in use. Perhaps I'm overstating the case, but it seems a "greener" solution than putting a device to sleep, and faster to wake than shutting the device off when not in use?
28 • @22 (by MrSparkleWonder on 2022-11-22 17:44:47 GMT from Mexico)
Debian has a lot of bloat. WattOS is de-fatted.....and based on Debian.
29 • @21 • Linux's useless Apppendix....I think.... (by tom joad) (by Leonie on 2022-11-22 18:48:39 GMT from France)
"I don't need a swap. ... Why doesn't Linux, on the new install, check how much RAM is out there."
Because Linux can't think and because it can't know who is gonna use it, nor what for.
YOU (eventually really) don't need swap, but your system (suspend to disk), or your applications (Blender, Hugin, GIMP etc., etc.) might very well need it.
Have you ever asked yourself why professional workstations with 256 GB RAM have one or more dedicated swap SSDs?
Each time you click on that 'undo' button in Photoshop (Blender, Hugin, GIMP etc., etc.) you load a previous full copy of the file.
For easier understanding, take some small image, 50 MB for example, open 300 layers, and in each one change only one single pixel, and then check the memory usage and a swap file size again.
Working on a 1.5 MB image (end size) used more than 12 GB RAM while working on it, and some people sometimes even work on some real photos, and are not just toying around ...
https://petapixel.com/2015/05/24/365-gigapixel-panorama-of-mont-blanc-becomes-the-worlds-largest-photo/
30 • Some interesting readings, in regard 'to swap, or not to swap' ... (by Leonie on 2022-11-22 18:56:55 GMT from France)
https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/190398/do-i-need-swap-space-if-i-have-more-than-enough-amount-of-ram
https://artisticrender.com/memory-optimization-for-rendering-in-blender/
https://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/linux-swap-space.html
31 • @26, Debian isn't always Debian (by Harry the Lizard on 2022-11-23 01:55:20 GMT from United States)
You analogy doesn't fit. Debian is a collection or repos. A Debian installer gives you a bootable medium with access to the repos and the choice to install what you want. Distros like WattOS and SpiralLinux offer convenience, saving you the work of configuration.
Assume Harley gives you the option of choosing a frame and configuring your bike with engine, etc. to your liking. That would be akin to Debian. But what if someone orders the frame and all parts from Harley and puts the bike together so you can go pick up your shiny new machine all done and ready. If Harley did not own the rights, they could badge it as a Yamaha, but it would still be a Harley. If you need parts and repairs, it would be no different than any other Harley.
In the case of WattOS and SpiralLinux, should the developer quit, you can update, upgrade, and do anything that can be done on any installation of Debian. And it will remain so as long as Debian exists. They are Debian no matter what the badge says..
32 • There is only one Debian (by There can only be one on 2022-11-24 06:51:18 GMT from Luxembourg)
@28:
"Debian has a lot of bloat. WattOS is de-fatted.....and based on Debian."
I can tell you've never performed a minimal installation. Debian doesn't have a lot of bloat if you do a simple and minimal install and build what you want from there. Try this for yourself if you're so inclined and you'll see. I've tried WattOS, it is not "de-fatted", it's someone's spinoff distro built the way THEY want it. YOU have the same power to create the environment you want by installing from the simple, minimal install method. But it sounds like you're just here to advertise.
@31:
"Debian is a collection or repos"
Debian is Debian.
"Distros like WattOS and SpiralLinux offer convenience, saving you the work of configuration."
Debian spinoff distros often rely on the Debian repos, and often modify/customize programs according to their wishes. Some sponoffs also go further and add custom repos and/or custom programs outside and apart from the Debian repos. I could take Debian and make TurdOS but in the end, it's still TurdOS and not Debian. Spinoffs are also usually ran by different people made up of organizations or companies, sometimes an simply an individual. Completely different team, motives, wants and needs. Some developers choose to remain anonymous. I don't like this.
If I want Debian, I install Debian. Not someone else's vision.
"In the case of WattOS and SpiralLinux, should the developer quit, you can update, upgrade, and do anything that can be done on any installation of Debian."
Except usually it's much more than that. It's not just Debian, it's a customized and often heavily modified version of what someone else wants Debian to be. It is not the same people, it's more often than not the same design.
"And it will remain so as long as Debian exists."
Unless they contain additional packages, stuff outside of the Debian repos and/or extreme modifications, forks, tweaks requiring unique old libraries or what not.
"They are Debian no matter what the badge says"
No, they most certainly are not. They are spinoffs made by others. Stick to Reddit.
33 • Debian (by Romane on 2022-11-24 12:09:00 GMT from Australia)
A few interesting comments above regarding the Debian offering,
I have been running Debian Testing for about 12 years now. Every once in a while I have the urge to try another distro, but not one satisfies what I want from my operating system except Debian, so I always return to it (usually within less than a week).
I have found that the best way to install it is as another person (I think it is @22) stated above - install a minimal base, and build what you want from there. As I am in general lazy, for me this means installing one of the ready-made desktop environments after the minimal system is installed. At the moment that is KDE Plasma running on Wayland.
Just to mention about running a full desktop environment on old tehnology, My laptop runs the same system, Debian Testing with KDE Plasma on Wayland. About 20 to 25 years old this machine is. Yes, booting is noticeably slower than my desktop (so just wander off and do something else briefly), even with an SSD in it, but that slowness is due, not to the OS but to the now-ancient technology. Once up and running, performance is eminently acceptable. In fact, for its age and etc. I would call it quite snappy.
I have found over the years that Debian "Just Works", whereas with other Distro's and Debian-based distro's, there has alway been "something" such that they do not, for me, live up to "Just Works", no matter how good and well-supported these other distro's are.
34 • @32, one Debian (by Harry the Lizard. on 2022-11-24 14:28:22 GMT from United States)
"Debian spinoff distros often rely on the Debian repos, and often modify/customize programs according to their wishes. Some sponoffs also go further and add custom repos and/or custom programs outside and apart from the Debian repos."
Sure they do, except when they don't. No one was talking about all spin-offs. The distros in question are WattOS and SpiralLinux. Nothing else was mentioned. No programs are "customized". Nothing is added from outside the Debian repos. Maybe it's not Reddit that's needed, but reading lessons.
I can install all those exact packages by customizing Debian to suit me using the Debian installer, or I can install something that already has the packages I want, and be done with it in a few minutes. I have installed Debian several times. This time I decided to try SpiralLinux with Plasma. I then changed to the testing repos. I now have Debian testing with nothing "customized" or from outside repos except for what I installed myself afterward: VBox from Oracle, Librewolf, and Chrome browser. Oh yes, I changed the green wallpaper.
35 • They like spinoffs *shrug* (by Goose on 2022-11-25 01:22:45 GMT from Germany)
@34:
Sigh. Some people like to argue just for the sake of arguing.
"No one was talking about all spin-offs. The distros in question are WattOS and SpiralLinux."
I'm sorry, are you god? You never defined the *rules* of discussion. These ARE spinoffs.
"Nothing else was mentioned."
I'm so glad you alone dictate what responses can contain.
"No programs are "customized".
Often with spins, many things are. Maybe not the two referenced, but in general.
"Nothing is added from outside the Debian repos."
Again, often in spinoffs, unique modifications and/or forks are made. Maybe you have the interest/patience of verifying every package as the same/legit but other's don't.
"Maybe it's not Reddit that's needed, but reading lessons."
That's why it was said, "stick to Reddit" for useless arguments. You sound like the type of person who likes to have the last word, no matter how wrong or right it may be. If you need reading lessons, surely there's a subreddit for that at Reddit. Best of luck to you and your education.
"I can install all those exact packages by customizing Debian to suit me using the Debian installer, or I can install something that already has the packages I want, and be done with it in a few minutes."
If you want to install a spinoff, that's your choice. A spinoff is generally commanded by one or more users, usually not developers of the distribution they pull packages from. They each have different goals, purposes, and so on. They are not Debian. You're more than welcome to jump on /r/Debian @ Reddit or the Debian mailing lists and try and talk about spinoffs, but you'll likely be informed that they aren't Debian and will probably be pointed in the right direction, which is the spinoff's respective mailing lists or forums.
I see the response in whole wasn't quoted/commented on, and with good reason, because they can't be argued against successfully.
"I now have Debian testing with nothing "customized" or from outside repos except for what I installed myself afterward"
You have a spinoff with different leader(s). Debian is Debian. If you want it, install it. If you don't, don't. But please do not confuse spinoffs with the real thing.
36 • It's still there! (by Richard GopherHeart on 2022-11-25 02:30:48 GMT from United States)
> The distros in question are WattOS and SpiralLinux
I've seen smaller distributions come and go for longer than you've probably been alive.
Debian is always there. Their "team" is always there and not cowards hiding under nicknames.
I wouldn't choose anything less than REAL DEBIAN!
37 • @36, It's still there! (by Harry the Lizard on 2022-11-25 11:32:20 GMT from United States)
"I've seen smaller distributions come and go for longer than you've probably been alive." Been alive for 76 years, so I seriously doubt it.
No point continuing, since you and @35 will just keep building straw-men to knock down. Spiral Linux can go away tomorrow, but it will not affect the system I'm running. I will not have to do anything to continue using it as long as Debian repos are there.
There are very popular, damn good and well respected distros such as MX and AntiX which are based on Debian. There are specialty distros such as Kali and Parrot. (I run Parrot) If these distros cease to exist, one needs to find an alternative. That is not the case if the distro is solely using Debian's repos. Neither the MX, Parrot, antiX, Kali, SpiralLinux or WattOS devs are "cowards". They are trying to provide usefulness and convenience to Linux users. They do this at no cost to the user, and deserve better than epithets.
38 • Swapping. (by Friar Tux on 2022-11-25 13:26:28 GMT from Canada)
Well... we've spent the week swapping swap stories. Interesting.
Me? I just use whatever is default in my OS. Hasn't failed me, yet.
As for this whole Debian "discussion", I use Linux Mint/Cinnamon. When I tested straight Debian, it was a pain in the undercarriage to get working. Then I tested Ubuntu, based on Debian, but "but much improved" (or so they claimed). It, too, was a pain to get working. Finally, I tested Linux Mint, which claimed to be an improvement on Ubuntu. It was the only distro that, on my HP laptop, worked out-of-box every time I installed it afresh, which was quite a few times. So while I do test/try/play with other distros, Linux Mint/Cinnamon will always be my workhorse.
As for starting minimal and building your system to your own specs, What Mint offers as default can easily be changed out to what I prefer. It takes no more time than "building my system".
39 • Eliminated my swap file... (by tom joad on 2022-11-25 16:31:51 GMT from Germany)
I posted as @21 about the overall value of a swap file when large amounts of RAM are freely available.
So I turned off my swap file a few days ago. That was several reboots ago. See?
munchkin@jupiter-hp:~$ free -htl
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 11Gi 1.4Gi 7.7Gi 342Mi 2.5Gi 9.5Gi
Low: 11Gi 3.9Gi 7.7Gi
High: 0B 0B 0B
Swap: 0B 0B 0B
Total: 11Gi 1.4Gi 7.7Gi
lothario@nemesis-hp:~$
I honestly can discern no difference in performance..zero. Sure your 'mileage may vary' as they say. But for me, I don't need no swap anything.
Sorry for the second comment in a week.
40 • How much swap space? (by penguinx86 on 2022-11-25 17:49:46 GMT from United States)
In the old pre-Y2k Unix days, the recommended swap space was 2x to 3x the amount of RAM. But in those days, most systems had less than 1gb of RAM and hard drives were much smaller. I worked on old HP/UX systems running CAD software that had 512mb of RAM and two 1gb hard drives.
One of the 1gb hard drives was used for the OS and the other drive was used entirely for swap space. Yes, back then 1gb was a lot of storage.
These days, my laptop with 16gb of RAM and a 1tb SSD rarely ever swaps. I question if I really need the swap space or not. It seems like Linux Mint usually installs a swap file about 2gb by default. This default swap file seems good enough, if not overkill. Sometimes I add an extra swap partition, just to be safe.
That other OS from Redmond usually installs a swap/page file about 1.3x the amount of RAM. But it's probably needed on a bloated OS like that. Increasing the swap/page file to 4gb doesn't really seem to make much difference on that OS.
There seems to be lots of conflicting information about swap files and partitions. For example, some people say to NEVER use swap on an SSD due to premature wear. I contacted Samsung support about this. They said it's not an issue and just use their SSDs the same as an HDD.
Number of Comments: 40
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Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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| Random Distribution | 
EndeavourOS
EndeavourOS is a rolling-release Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. The project aims to be a spiritual successor to Antergos, providing an easy setup and a pre-configured desktop environment on an Arch base. EndeavourOS offers both off-line and on-line install options. The off-line installer, Calamares, uses the KDE Plasma desktop by default. The on-line installer can install optional software components, including most popular desktop environments.
Status: Active
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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