Proc questions

Ryujin · 2005-06-26 22:49:58

I was just wondering, my proc folder is over a Gig in size and I was wondering if there is any way to thin it out, I only have a 6 gig HDD!

Cam · 2005-06-26 22:55:24

It shouldn't be, what program is telling you this? I'm guessing it's reading things wrong because /proc is a virtual filesystem, meaning those files are just like a gateway to look into some stuff the kernel is doing or information it's using. It shouldn't use any space at all.

Ryujin · 2005-06-26 23:01:43

konqueror and nautalis are telling me this, my concern is that with the software I have installed it usualy only takes up 1 GIG and my HDD is using 2, I know Proc is virtual but it is the only place I can see the extra space being used

paranoos · 2005-06-26 23:27:17

virtual means it doesn't use any space anywhere.

the proc filesystem is a way to get information from the kernel. it's like asking the kernel a question, and it answers it for you in the form of a file. the files probably don't exist until you read them, because it's impossible for it to be using that much ram as well.

"du -h /proc" reports that my proc is taking up 513MB. "df /proc" reports correctly that there is nothing being used, as the files aren't physical, they're virtual.

EDIT: furthermore, if you look at your /etc/fstab, you should see that /proc is not mounted from a device, meaning it has no way to even write to your hard drive.

run df to find out precisely how much space is being used by your physical drive. konqueror and nautilus are probably not smart enough to know what's physically on the drive, and what is not.

Ryujin · 2005-06-27 05:11:09

Thank you. that answers some questions, still a lot to learn!

Arch Linux

#1 2005-06-26 22:49:58

Proc questions

#2 2005-06-26 22:55:24

Re: Proc questions

#3 2005-06-26 23:01:43

Re: Proc questions

#4 2005-06-26 23:27:17

Re: Proc questions

#5 2005-06-27 05:11:09

Re: Proc questions

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