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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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What is the proper way, if there is one, to remove files and applications added to ram with preload? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 16 hours ago by vortexal@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml

7 comments fedilink hide all child comments

If you're not aware of what preload is, it's a command line application that allows you to add files to ram, so they can be accessed faster by the applications that need them.

It seems to work well for what I'm using it for, which is to run games from slower storage devices, but there doesn't seem to be any documentation for a proper way to remove the files once they've been added to ram. What I've been doing is to just use htop to terminate the preload command, but I feel like this is not intended at all. Is there a better way to remove these files?

I should mention that while trying to search for a solution myself, I did see gopreload mentioned a few times. I would try this out myself, but there's no proper installation instructions, at least not any I could find that work in Linux Mint.

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[–] RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world 13 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

My understanding is the kernel will remove them if it needs the ram, so there is no need unless it's for security reasons.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 16 minutes ago

Usually, RAM space gets reserved, it doesn't get removed then.

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 3 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

When you say "remove", do you mean completely remove or move them to swap/zswap/zram, depending on what the system has enabled?

[–] RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world 13 points 15 hours ago

Cached files are freeable so the kernel will drop them instead of sending them to swap.

And I'm pretty sure zram is just a swap device in RAM so should follow the same rules.