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Memory usage creep after updates

Last time I used Arch this late summer I had 835mb on idle.
With Artix around the same time I got well under 800mb. I think this was while kernel 6.11 was still around.
Then when kernel 6.12 came around, my usage jumped to just above 900mb, and now with 6.12.4 it has finally stepped over 1gb. FPS on Squad(proton) also was slightly reduced.
Any idea what might be causing this?

My software:
dinit
xfce, default wm, some plugins
xorg, nvidia-open
gvfs
no sddm or other dm, we login with shell and use use .bash_profile like real men.

Hardware:
Legion 5
Ryzen 7 4800h
Geforce 1660Ti
32gb ram
256gb m.2 win10 + 1tb m.2 linux

>inb4 unused ram is wasted ram
Why even use linux then, why not stick with windows? Efficiency requires constant vigilance.

Re: Memory usage creep after updates

Reply #1 –
Yeah, unused RAM is RAM that is available when you suddenly need to open a dozen tabs on your browser or want to process a few large images, some sound or video, let's say. A system that has no free RAM during regular usage sounds like trouble.

I think the issue is simply general bloat. Everything grows. Seldom is a feature removed or code deleted. And when something "needs" to be added, most programmers always do just that: add; instead of redesigning stuff. And most software is too big and clunky to redesign anyway. It grows like crystals.

If you look at pacman update net changes, they are generally >0. Sometimes negative, but the trend is upwards. That's not just larger files on the hard drive; it affects RAM usage, too, when larger executables/libraries are loaded or larger data files cached.

Re: Memory usage creep after updates

Reply #2 –
Quote from: reinis3213 – on
With Artix around the same time I got well under 800mb. I think this was while kernel 6.11 was still around.
Then when kernel 6.12 came around, my usage jumped to just above 900mb, and now with 6.12.4 it has finally stepped over 1gb.
Downgrade to 6.11 from our archive and compare.