[GHC] #698: GHC's internal memory allocator never releases memory back to the OS

[GHC]

#698: GHC's internal memory allocator never releases memory back to the OS
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    Reporter:  guest             |        Owner:  igloo           
        Type:  bug               |       Status:  new             
    Priority:  low               |    Milestone:  6.12 branch     
   Component:  Runtime System    |      Version:  6.4.1           
    Severity:  normal            |   Resolution:                  
    Keywords:                    |   Difficulty:  Moderate (1 day)
    Testcase:  N/A               |           Os:  Linux           
Architecture:  Unknown/Multiple  |  
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Comment (by simonmar):

 Replying to [comment:11 zooko]:

 > If the memory usage continues to grow when a substantially similar task
 is being performed over and over, then this is a memory leak.  That's a
 separate issue from returning memory to the OS.

 Exactly.  If anyone can demonstrate a leak, please create a separate
 ticket.

 > Personally I don't think returning memory to the OS is worth the effort.
 The OS will swap it out anyway when it is unused.  (Hint: never look at
 the "virtual memory size" on linux.  It is a useless and misleading number
 -- it doesn't correlate with anything that we actually care about.)

 Which is why it hasn't been addressed so far.  But there are people who
 still care about the absolute virtual size of their processes - perhaps
 because they want to avoid the swapping, or maybe just because they don't
 like seeing huge processes in `top`.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/698#comment:12>
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