Aout Ubuntu (linux) memory leaks?

Question

My brother told me that linux is a great operating system but they have a bad problem with memory leaks? But windows does not have this problem. Something about linux allocates the memory (ram) used for programs, but it does not deallocate it when it is done. So over a period of time, the system gets slower. Is this true? I'm new to linux.

Answer 1

Misbehaving applications and poorly written code can cause memory leaks. These occur in many operating systems and applications including Linux and Windows.

Microsoft has _plenty_ of technical articles and patches to fix leaks in many different versions of Windows up to and including Vista. Here's a few of the articles from Microsoft's site. http://support.microsoft.com/search/default.aspx?query=%22memory+leak%22&catalog=LCID%3D1033&spid=&qryWt=&mode=r&cus=False

I've been building and supporting Windows infrastructures since Windows 2.0 days and I can tell you that Windows most certainly does have this problem. There are plenty of articles about memory leaks for every version of Windows. Here's a Google list,
Windows 3.11 http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22windows+3.11%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows 95 http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22windows+95%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows 98 http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22windows+98%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows ME http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22windows+me%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows XP http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22windows+xp%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows 2000 http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22windows+2000%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows 2003 http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22windows+2003%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows Vista http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22windows+vista%22+%22memory+leak%22

Or, you can go right to the source at the MS knowledgebase.
Windows 3.11 http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?q=%22windows+3%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows 95 http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&q=%22windows+95%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows 98 http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?q=%22windows+98%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows ME http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?q=%22windows+me%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows XP http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?q=%22windows+xp%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows 2000 http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?q=%22windows+2000%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows 2003 http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?q=%22windows+2003%22+%22memory+leak%22
Windows Vista http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?q=%22windows+vista%22+%22memory+leak%22

Although Linux experiences memory leaks, too, the benefit of using an open source operating system is that the operating system and applications can be patched much more quickly than Microsoft tends to patch.

There are similar articles about memory leaks in Linux, http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=linux+%22memory+leak%22 but I would not characterize the issue as a "bad problem." My first distro was Slackware back in the mid-90's. I'm currently running a couple versions of Knoppix and a couple of Ubuntu/Edubuntu. In my experience, I haven't seen any significant issues with memory leaks.

In fact, the Linux kernel tends to be much more efficient than other PC-based operating systems.

Because it is stable, fast, and works quite well, many top tier companies are using it to run some of their significant systems. To name just a small few,
Google http://www.infoworld.com/article/02/08/13/020813hnbrin_1.html
Yahoo http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20070322/bs_nf/50932
Cisco http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;1394751021;fp;4;fpid;3
Boeing http://mtechit.com/linux-biz/aerospace_industry/boeing.html
DaimlerChrysler http://mtechit.com/linux-biz/automotive_industry/daimlerchrysler.html
Mercedes Benz http://mtechit.com/linux-biz/automotive_industry/mercedes.html
Netscape http://mtechit.com/linux-biz/internet_companies/netscape.html


Top service providers are also supporting customers with Linux.
IBM http://www-03.ibm.com/linux/
Dell http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/alliances/en/linux?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz

An independent industry watchdog predicts that Linux desktop sales will hit 10 Billion dollars in 2008. http://news.com.com/IDC+Linux+PC+sales+to+hit+10+billion+in+2008/2100-7344_3-5492399.html

All of this is happening because Linux is a viable, alternate operating system. The complexity of an operating system, the variations of hardware that it may run on, and the interactions of cross-functional applications make it nearly impossible to have an OS that works flawlessly. Linux runs well, and many would say that it runs better, faster, more efficiently, and with quicker patching than any MS offering.

Answer 2

I mean no offense but your brother is "mistaken", I have used linux for over 10 years and have never run across a problem like that ........

here at home I have 7 linux machine, 2 windows machines and 1 mac and my linux machines (which most of them are severs) have no probelsms with memory leaks. Now I suppose you can get software that do have memory leaks that but has nothing to do with linux and more to do with poorly written software (I am a software developer nprofessionally)

while i have to admit i do not use ubuntu I have been keeping up with it (and I am thjnking of installing it) what are you planning to do with your linux machine anyway?

if you just going to surf the internet, email, maybe use open office (free ms office like applicaton) you are fine, heck if your going to use it to develop applications and runa web server you are fine, I personally use mine as a web server, firewall, router and a bunch of other things and have never has a problem with memory leaks

dougc

Answer 3

Linux is an open-sourced working gadget based on the age previous working gadget Unix. Open-sourced capacity that is loose! there are a number of distributions of Linux, and Ubuntu is a properly-cherished one for many residing house shoppers. in case you have an pastime in getting to understand and employing Linux i could recommend installation it on a working laptop or laptop which you do no longer use oftentimes. A twin-booting gadget would properly be set up, yet it somewhat is slightly extra stepped forward. the ideal element i will recommend is to google some issues you may prefer to renowned approximately Linux, inspect the hyperlinks below, and set up it on a working laptop or laptop and mess around with it. there are a number of that desire Linux to residing house windows and it easily saves funds and frustration.

Answer 4

The RAM does fill itself up after a while, but not with Ubuntu, or at least to my knowledge Ubuntu does not have memory leaks, but Debian does fairly badly.