commit 9a8dc789e83b869ef8c56cc94741dbc3a191f55b Author: Jan Rybar Date: Tue Oct 28 06:37:03 2025 +0000 free manpage: note on negative value with overcommitt enabled diff --git a/man/free.1 b/man/free.1 index 02dae847..3816754a 100644 --- a/man/free.1 +++ b/man/free.1 @@ -142,7 +142,11 @@ Display a line showing the column totals. \fB\-v\fR, \fB\-\-committed\fR Display a line showing the memory commit limit and amount of committed/uncommitted memory. The \fBtotal\fR column on this line will display the memory commit -limit. This line is relevant if memory overcommit is disabled. +limit. This line is relevant if memory overcommit is disabled. On systems +with memory overcommit enabled, the \fBfree\fR value can temporarily appear +negative. This is not a bug, but an effect of overcommit, as the system has promised +more memory than the total of its virtual address space. +The negative value indicates the magnitude of the system's memory over-allocation. .TP \fB\-\-help\fR Print help.