R: Re: Possible inclusion of zram-config on default install

[Fabio Pedretti]

>Da: dmitrij.ledkov at ubuntu.com
>On 7 December 2012 22:32, Fabio Pedretti <fabio.ped at libero.it> wrote:
>> It would be nice if Ubuntu could include zram-config by default. This 
package
>> set up compressed RAM swap space and can lower RAM requirements for running 
and
>> installing Ubuntu. It should be a win for every configuration. Since kernel 
3.8
>> the zram module is out of staging, I am using it since precise with no 
problem.
>>
>> The bug request is here:
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/zram-config/+bug/381059
>>
>
>Where necessaries, we already ship and include zram.
>
>E.g. ubuntu nexus7 and ac100 images.
>
>What other images do you want this for? I am not convinced it makes
>much sense on i386/amd64.

1. Traditional swap on hard drive is still used and suggested, zram is a 
better alternative and a complement to it, so it may for sure be useful to 
everyone who actually use swap on hard drive.
2.  Some derivatives (Lubuntu, Xubuntu) are mainly suggested on systems with 
low RAM, in this case one could still use the standard Ubuntu rather than this 
alternatives.
3. Not everyone has many GB of RAM, this could help these users. I am 
succesfully using it on a iBook PowerPC G4 (768 MB RAM) under Lubuntu and also 
on a MacBook Pro with 2 GB RAM (its maximum RAM size) with standard Ubuntu. 
Also, for example, see this bug report:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/lowmem/+bug/1050595
4. Also look at the project page http://code.google.com/p/compcache/ :
"The usual argument I get is - memory is so cheap so why bother with 
compression? So I list here some of the use cases. Rest depends on your 
imagination :)
 * Netbooks: Market is now getting flooded with these "lightweight laptops". 
These are memory constrained but have CPU enough to drive on compressed memory 
(e.g. Cloudbook features 1.2 GHz processor!). 
* Virtualization: With compcache at hypervisor level, we can compress any part 
of guest memory transparently - this is true for any type of Guest OS (Linux, 
Windows etc.). This should allow running more number of VMs for given amount of 
total host memory. 
* Embedded Devices: Memory is scarce and adding more memory increases device 
cost. Also, flash storage suffers from wear-leveling issues, so its useful if 
we can avoid using them as swap device."
5. If you followed lkml you'll see that it's co-developed by Oracle, it's not 
only useful for small systems, but it's also useful on modern server 
environments. I have a couple of Oracle server with 32 GB, tuned by Oracle's 
engeneers, yet they use disk swap. Also on virtualized environment saving RAM 
is very useful (especially on VMWare where you pay not only the hardware RAM, 
but also the license to use it).
6. Lastly, as already said, it doesn't hurt so even if you have many GB of RAM 
the worst thing that can happen is that it make no difference if you never 
saturate all your RAM.