Linux/IRAF Site Manager's Guide

Linux/IRAF Site Manager's Guide

6.1. Memory requirements

The windowing systems used in these workstations tend to be very memory intensive; trying to do image processing only makes matters worse. Even though XFree86 and FVWM try to be very efficient with memory, the typical screen with ten or so windows uses a lot of memory. Interactive performance will suffer greatly if the system pages a lot. No system should be configured with less than 8 Mb of main memory; 20 Mb or more is recommended if you plan to do a lot of image processing but 16 Mb is about the practical minimum for most uses. Get at least 32 Mb if you can afford it and you plan to do a lot of data processing with the machine. These comments refer to single user systems, servers could require even more (we have little experience with the use of Linux for server applications however).