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Ubuntu Linux raises minimum system memory requirements by 50% — requirements bumped to 6GB of RAM, previously raised from 1GB to 4GB in 2018 (www.tomshardware.com)
submitted 2 months ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[-] Black616Angel@discuss.tchncs.de 72 points 2 months ago

Please everyone read or at least skim articles before posting. The article literally says, that it's "an honest bump" to allow typical usage like web browsing and multitasking.

Ubuntu experts at OMG Ubuntu characterize the latest revision in RAM specs as “an honesty bump.” In other words, the core OS isn’t really more demanding on system resources this time around, but Canonical recognizes that with the latest Gnome desktop, modern web browsers, and typical multitasking workflows, users should look at a minimum of 6GB of RAM.

[-] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 41 points 2 months ago

Please everyone read or at least skim articles before posting.

NEVER!

[-] pirate2377@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 months ago

But that requires actually READING 😖 /j

[-] XLE@piefed.social 7 points 2 months ago

I'm concerned about in-system bloat because I read the linked article.

Rather, it’s more of an honesty bump. Components that make up the distro – the GNOME desktop and extensions, modern web browsers (and the sites we load in them) and the kinds of apps we use (and keep running) whilst multitasking are more demanding.

The desktop itself isn't the only reason that you need more RAM, but it's definitely one of them.

[-] Siegfried@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Web browsing is the real murder here.. and i dont want to know how much memory is solely spent on ads

[-] grinde@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 months ago

The week after GDPR went into effect was amazing. Almost nobody was ready, so they just turned off all their ads and tracking for European IPs while they figured it out. Pages loaded pretty much instantly.

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[-] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 53 points 2 months ago

IN THIS ECONOMY????

[-] MrSoup@lemmy.zip 14 points 2 months ago

Worst timing for sure

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[-] jeffep@lemmy.world 36 points 2 months ago

Great move in these times where RAM is cheap and widely available

[-] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

[-] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 months ago

That dog is so dead by now

[-] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

A dog dies twice. The first time is when its soul leaves its body, and the second time is when the meme of it is posted the last time.

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[-] fartsparkles@lemmy.world 27 points 2 months ago

They’re raising it because of RAM needs of browsers and GNOME.

If you’re a shell nerd like me, you’ll still be fine running it on a potato.

[-] XLE@piefed.social 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It's an illuminating experience to go to a store with Apple computers with 8GB of RAM on display, and browse to a RAM-heavy unoptimized website like YouTube or even Reddit now.

Open a few tabs.
Open a dozen.
You'd be surprised what a decently coded OS can pull off without compromising on the visuals.

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[-] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago

In this economy?

[-] Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

"HERE'S A NICKLE, KID. GET YOURSELF A BETTER COMPUTER."

[-] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 months ago

20 years ago when Scott Adams was still a moderately sane human.

[-] fallaciousBasis@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago

So basically the system requirements of Chrome.

[-] bold_omi@lemmy.today 8 points 2 months ago

Use Debian if you want a system like Ubuntu that isn't full of Canonical's corporate shit. Ubuntu is based on Debian.

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[-] IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 months ago

I don't immediately hate it. It's been a while since any laptops/prebuilds shipped with less than 8 GB, and there's distros out there far better suited to running on low power or legacy hardware.

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[-] T156@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

This doesn't seem so bad, though. 2 GB more in about 10 years is pretty reasonable in terms of an increase.

It's not like they doubled it.

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[-] sturmblast@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Just use Debian

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[-] Taleya@aussie.zone 5 points 2 months ago

Shocked i got this far without someone blaming snaps

[-] abacabadabacaba@infosec.pub 3 points 2 months ago

Wow, it needs more RAM than Windows!

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-specifications

[-] CaptDust@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 months ago

Wow those min specs are pure bullshit. Sure you can run the OS - oh, did you want to do anything else with your PC? Good luck

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[-] nooneescapesthelaw@mander.xyz 3 points 2 months ago

Me with 16 GB on my computer

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

[-] webkitten@piefed.social 3 points 2 months ago

My Tandy Sensation required 256MB and everything worked fine.

[-] umbraroze@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 months ago

Fun thing, I just booted up an old computer. Started right up. It had Ubuntu 11.10 on it.

Now, I obviously didn't connect the thing to the Internet. Updates would have probably failed hard. Not because it's missing over a decade of updates so there might be some complications on that front, but because it's a Pentium III with Definitely Not Even a Gigabyte of memory. (Oh and a Nvidia GeForce 2 MX. I'm pretty sure that's not supported by... any driver any more.)

[-] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

When I built my current rig a few years back (when I still used Windows and Photoshop), I said, "RAM is cheap enough, and more is better, but don't go overboard."

That's how I ended up with 64GB of RAM.

[-] northernlights@lemmy.today 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Meanwhile on my raspberrypi 4 running Ubuntu server:

screenshot showing 800M RAM usage

And my tablet running stock Ubuntu:

screenshot showing 2.3G RAM usage

[-] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Why not just debian if its a server?

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this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2026
117 points (98.3% liked)

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