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Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 13:59:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: Christoph Lameter <cl@linux-foundation.org>
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To: Pavel Machek <pavel@ucw.cz>
cc: Dave Hansen <dave@linux.vnet.ibm.com>,
       David Rientjes <rientjes@google.com>,
       Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>,
       Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@suse.de>, Nick Piggin <npiggin@suse.de>,
       Mel Gorman <mel@csn.ul.ie>, Peter Ziljstra <a.p.ziljstra@chello.nl>,
       San Mehat <san@android.com>, Arve Hj?nnev?g <arve@android.com>,
       linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Misleading OOM messages
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On Fri, 15 May 2009, Pavel Machek wrote:

> Ok, so kernel should be fixed to make limits 30% of non-mlocked
> memory.

There is already ulimit.

> > folks.  They go sucking up and locking as much memory as they can get
> > their hands on.  Adding memory never helps them because they'll use up
> > whatever is there.
>
> Well, but it is uncommon everywhere else. If you have desktop system,
> job size is pretty much constant. If you have too little memory, you
> OOM.

Nope. If you have too little memory for your app then the kernel pages
portions of the app out to disk. Thats is why you have a VM (VIRTUAL
machine). The app is not running with physical memory.