# MGLRU

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/mglru/

6 people recommended MGLRU in Hacker News comments and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 12 months, in 6 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Linux kernel memory management that keeps swap and low-memory systems responsive, especially on older PCs with little RAM or slow disks. One critic reported problems after it arrived in 6.1.

Summary written by Claude from 9 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 8 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Fixes swap and memory issues (3 comments in the sample): "Linux swap has been fixed on Chromebooks for years thanks to MGLRU." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46897724)) "has entirely resolved the issue for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49344628)) "I thought that was fixed after MGLRU." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46371833))
- Helps low-RAM PCs with HDDs (2 comments in the sample): "For HDD, it also needs to be tuned. In its default configuration, MGLRU 'just' manages multiple generations of working sets" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48697169)) "It has the biggest impact on performance on lower-end PCs, especially with low amount of RAM and slow HDD." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48697045))

## Other kernel features people recommend

- [zswap](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zswap/): 26 recommend, 5 mixed, 2 criticize
- [zram](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zram/): 22 recommend, 7 mixed, 14 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "MGLRU", https://hackerapproved.com/p/mglru/ (6 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.