Canonical is introducing memory management updates in the upcoming Ubuntu 26.10 desktop release. The changes aim to improve system stability during low-memory scenarios by modifying how the kernel handles Out Of Memory (OOM) events.
The new strategy assigns higher survival priority to critical desktop services, such as GNOME Shell and D-Bus. By lowering the OOM score for these core components, the system is less likely to terminate them when resources are exhausted, preventing graphical interface crashes.
Standard applications and background processes will retain higher OOM scores, making them more likely to be closed first under memory pressure. Additionally, the development team plans to disable the systemd-oomd automatic termination policy for user sessions to avoid conflicts with kernel-level priorities.
These modifications are currently integrated into the Ubuntu 26.10 development version, codenamed Stonking Stingray. Canonical is encouraging users and developers to test the new mechanism under high-load conditions to gather feedback for future refinements.
