WYNTK: UNIX System Admininistrator

Some programs are more resource intensive than others.

Some programs make the computer work harder than others. For example, if you run the clear command, it just clears your screen. It doesn’t need to open any files, start any subprocesses, or communicate with other programs. All it does is send a control sequence to your terminal and then bail out.

On the other hand, if you start up a mail program, the program usually opens your mail configuration file (e.g., .mailrc), opens your system folder, searches through it for the most recent messages, displays their headers on your screen, and then awaits your commands. In addition, many mailers copy the mail folder to another file so that the mail folder itself isn’t changed until you explicitly update it or quit from the program. The mail program is clearly a more resource-intensive program than clear.

(Have you noticed that when you have many mail messages in your system folder, or when one of those messages is very big, the mailer takes longer to start up? This is because the program needs more time to read and copy the mail file.)

What do you do when the system is slow?

	I often get impatient at first. But if it gets really slow, I shut down unnecessary processes, and think of phone calls I need to make or take a few minutes to relax.
	--Linda Lamb