From d327fd594da7d7207c2d47414a6c47ff0c0e2598 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Eli Zaretskii Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2022 12:57:08 +0300 Subject: [PATCH] ; * doc/emacs/trouble.texi (Memory Full): Minor copyedits. --- doc/emacs/trouble.texi | 27 +++++++++++++++++++-------- 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/emacs/trouble.texi b/doc/emacs/trouble.texi index f524a820220..8da96de1cb4 100644 --- a/doc/emacs/trouble.texi +++ b/doc/emacs/trouble.texi @@ -296,20 +296,31 @@ editing in the same Emacs session. out of memory, because the Buffer Menu needs a fair amount of memory itself, and the reserve supply may not be enough. -@cindex memory trouble, GNU/Linux - On GNU/Linux systems, the system does not normally report running -out of memory to Emacs, and can instead randomly kill processes when -they run out of memory. We recommend that you turn this behavior off, -so that Emacs can respond correctly when it runs out of memory, by -becoming the super user, editing the file @code{/etc/sysctl.conf} to -contain the following lines, and then running the command @code{sysctl --p}: +@cindex out of memory killer, GNU/Linux +@cindex OOM killer + On GNU/Linux systems, Emacs does not normally get notified about +out-of-memory situations; instead, the OS can kill the Emacs process +when it runs out of memory. This feature is known as the +@dfn{out-of-memory killer}, or @dfn{@acronym{OOM} killer}. When this +behavior is in effect, Emacs is unable to detect the out-of-memory +situation in time, and won't be able to let you save your buffer as +described above. However, it is possible to turn off this behavior of +the OS, and thus allow Emacs a chance to handle the out-of-memory +situation in a more useful manner, before it is killed. To do that, +become the super user, edit the file @code{/etc/sysctl.conf} to +contain the lines shown below, and then invoke the command +@w{@kbd{sysctl -p}} from the shell prompt: @example vm.overcommit_memory=2 vm.overcommit_ratio=0 @end example +@noindent +Please note that the above setting affects all the processes on the +system, and in general the behavior of the system under memory +pressure, not just the Emacs process alone. + @node Crashing @subsection When Emacs Crashes -- 2.39.5