procps-ng/free-manpage-overcommit-note.patch

24 lines
1.0 KiB
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commit 9a8dc789e83b869ef8c56cc94741dbc3a191f55b
Author: Jan Rybar <jrybar@redhat.com>
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.