Any value in swap file if I have 2 GB RAM? Knoppix 7.0.4

[jhgagne]

I have a Dell Inspiron 1520 with 2 GB of RAM and a 500 GB hard drive that has 2 NTFS partitions for windows and a 44 GB FAT32 partition (sda3) from which I run Knoppix 7.0.4 (fromhd=/dev/sda3) with a 4GB persistent image. I boot from a 256 MB USB stick that I created with UNetbootin from the bootonly iso.

My question is this. Since available RAM has not been a problem, is there any value in creating a swap file on sda3 using mkdosswap? If so, how big should it be and should I anticipate any problems?

[Capricorny]

There are some occasions when you may need swap, but I think a general attitude nowadays is: Wait till you eventually run into them, and fix the swap problem then, when it has occurred. OTOH, with a 44GB partition available, you could of course set aside some of it for swap. Size is entirely dependent on the use. 1GB used to go a long way, and if your processor is 32 bits, above 4 is normally too much...