---

KernelTrap: Running Without An OOM Killer

[ 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…”

Complete
Story

Related Story:
Marcelo
Tosatti: Linux 2.4.23
(Nov 28, 2003)

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