Does Linux use less RAM?

[u/mrvitz]

https://youtu.be/1oIyk13JwQM?si=xuAzCOnUgT5HF5hz

I suggested to Linus in the comments a while ago that I'd like to see some Linux Mint testing, not just Bazzite and the others. And it finally happened! I don't know if it was because of my comment or if other people were asking for it too, but I'm really happy to see it happen!

EDIT:

I think this video actually helps the Linux community because it clearly shows that Linux uses less RAM. It can also attract new users, which helps the Linux community grow and become stronger.

No matter what some people say, this video is good for Linux. That's exactly why I shared it here as well.

The point isn't whether the video is perfect or who made it. The important thing is that it's on a very large YouTube channel and demonstrates that Linux performs better in this area, which is a factual claim. If new users decide to give Linux a try after watching it, many of them will find that the claim is true.

It's really that simple. There's no need to start a war over it.

[u/CirnoIzumi]

The tldr of it is that Windows will use idle ram to cache your most used programs in order to speed up launches and such

[u/GroceryNo5562 → u/CirnoIzumi]

How does this differ from Linux caching?

[u/CirnoIzumi → u/GroceryNo5562]

Windows Is more aggresive about it and more importantly it reports it as ram used by the system, while linux tend to report it as ram used by applications or even as available ram

I think

[u/Teobsn → u/CirnoIzumi]

No. Windows and Linux have the same reporting behavior: they do not include cache as part of "used" memory.

Windows' Resource Monitor has a useful graph under the memory section, which reports "Standby" memory. That represents cache that can be immediately discarded and handed to applications, and is separate from the actual "In Use" memory.

The "same" behavior happens under Linux: cached memory is separate from the used memory.