Hi.. I am new to linux. I recently installed fedora 3 on my laptop (Dell latitude D600, 1.6 Ghz, 1 GB RAM and 1 GB swap).This a scenario that i face. i login into my system for about 30-40 minutes working with eclipse java ide, evolution, a couple of terminals and one or two other programs. The memory usage shoots to 90%...i close all applications. and open just one terminal to run top. I still see more than 70% memory usage. Why is this. Is there a problem with my installation or do you guys face the same problem?
What you are describing doesn't sound at all unusual to me and not a propblem. Memory management in linux is more complex than just the simple % usage you are getting from top.
Googling for 'memory top usage linux' give as one of the links
http://gentoo-wiki.com/FAQ_Linux_Memory_Management
for example. what you are seeing is probably the file cache. see what the free -m command gives you instead.
Chris
