[linuxsh-dev] meminfo fields query

[peter g. <pga...@li...>]

What do the fields in /proc/meminfo mean? "man proc" and "man free" are not very informative.
 I am particularly interested in the following fields:
MemTotal   - Total memory of course, but what total exactly, after what and before what?
MemFree    - Free for what purpose, and how is other memory non-free?
Buffers    - Buffer between what and what? Is this memory available at a pinch?
Cached     - A cache for what exactly? How does it differ to a buffer?
Active/inactive - these form a pool of some sort, but to what purpose?
dirty      - Is this cache, buffer, or something else?

How does this memory add up, because if all the totals except for MemTotal are added together, the total is greater than
MemTotal, so obviously a particular bit of memory can exist in multiple categories.

If anybody could refer me to appropriate documentation I would be grateful.

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