Take the 2-minute tour ×  On the ubuntu system monitor there are
different types of memory listed: Virtual Memory, Resident
Memory, Writeable Memory, Shared Memory & X Server Memory. What
are the differences between them, and which reflects the actual
RAM usage of the process?  Sorry if it's a newbie question :)
share|improve this question  2 Answers 2  up vote 3 down vote
accepted   • Virtual memory accounts for all the libraries and
executable objects that are mapped into your process, as well as
your stack space.    • Resident memory is the amount of memory
that is actually in RAM.    • Writable memory is the amount of
address space that your process has allocated with write
privileges.     • X server memory is the amount used by the X
server for the GUI-session.   share|improve this answer  Some
definitions and wiki pages:    Resident Memory: typically refers
to physical RAM installed in the machine  X Server Memory: Self
explanatory, the amount of memory the X server is using (X
server controls your use