[ Thanks to Jeremy
Andrews for this link. ]
“The recently released 2.4.23 kernel includes a number of VM
changes merged from Andrea Arcangeli’s -aa branch. One of the
significant VM changes was the removal of the OOM (out of memory)
killer. In a recent thread, a user reported some VM issues once
upgrading to the 2.4.23 kernel. Andrea Arcangeli replied providing
some insight into the recent changes.“When earlier 2.4 kernels ran out of memory, the OOM killer used
a heuristic to try and determine which process was most appropriate
to kill. Andrea explains however that unfortunately it couldn’t
always be right, and thus could sometimes cause problems, even
leading to a deadlock. In 2.4.23, the VM system simply kills the
process that actually triggers the out-of-memory condition and
therefor can not lead to a deadlock…”
Related Story:
Marcelo
Tosatti: Linux 2.4.23(Nov 28, 2003)
Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.
LinuxToday is a trusted, contributor-driven news resource supporting all types of Linux users. Our thriving international community engages with us through social media and frequent content contributions aimed at solving problems ranging from personal computing to enterprise-level IT operations. LinuxToday serves as a home for a community that struggles to find comparable information elsewhere on the web.
Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2025 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved
Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.