Why Your Linux Computer Runs Like a Snail (And Commands to Monitor & Fix It)

You know that feeling when your computer starts acting like it’s running through molasses? Your video is buffering, your music is stuttering, and somehow your calculator app is taking 5 seconds to add 2+2. Welcome to the wild world of process priorities, where your CPU is basically a stressed-out chef trying to handle 50 orders at once.

Think of your computer’s CPU as the busiest restaurant kitchen in town. Every program running is like a different order ticket — some are quick appetizers (like opening a text file), others are complex five-course meals (like rendering a 4K video). Without proper management, chaos ensues and everyone gets cold food.

Why Should You Care?

Because nobody has time for a sluggish computer! Learning to manage process priorities and monitor your system is like becoming the head chef who can organize that chaotic kitchen. You’ll know exactly which “dishes” (processes) need immediate attention, which ones can wait, and how to spot when something’s burning. Plus, you’ll sound incredibly tech-savvy at parties when you casually mention you “reniced your background processes.”

Process Priority: Playing Favorites (And That’s Okay!)

The Nice Command — Teaching Programs Good Manners

Remember when your mom taught you to say “please” and “thank you”? The nice command is basically teaching your programs the same lesson. It tells new programs how polite they should be when asking for CPU time.

The Syntax:

nice [-n adjustment] command [argument]

Here’s the twist — in Linux world, being “nice” actually means giving up your spot in line! The adjustment ranges from:

-20: “I’m the VIP, move aside!” (highest priority)
19: “No rush, I’ll wait forever” (lowest priority)

Real-world example:

# Running a video conversion cpu heavy but not so imp so in background
nice -n 15 ffmpeg -i huge_movie.mp4 output.mp4

# Running a critical system backup with highly imp so high priority
nice -n -10 rsync -av /important_data/ /backup/

The Renice Command — Changing Your Mind Mid-Meal

Ever started cooking something and realized you need to prioritize a different dish? That’s where renice comes in - it changes the politeness level of programs already running.

The Syntax:

renice [-n adjustment] {-p pid | -g gid | -u user}

Pro tip: You need sudo powers for this one, because changing priorities is serious business!

Example:

# Make process ID 1234 less demanding or less polite
sudo renice -n 10 -p 1234

#Make all processes owned by user "mayhemcode" more polite
sudo renice -n 5 -u mayhemcode

Basic Process Monitoring: Your System’s Security Cameras

PS Command — The Quick Snapshot

When you need to know “what’s happening right now,” ps is your go-to command. It's like taking a photo of your kitchen at any given moment.

Essential options:

ps - Basic view (just your processes)
ps -e - Everything running (the whole restaurant)
ps -aux - Full details with usernames, CPU, and memory usage

Example:

# See all processes with detailed info and find memory consuming browser
ps -aux | grep firefox

TOP Command — The Live Security Feed

If ps is a snapshot, then top is your live security camera showing real-time action. It's like having a bird's-eye view of your kitchen during dinner rush.

Cool features:

top -d 1 - Updates every second (for the impatient)
Shift+P - Sort by CPU usage (find the CPU hogs)
Shift+M - Sort by memory usage (spot the memory gluttons)

What you’ll see:

System uptime (how long your computer’s been awake)
CPU usage breakdown (user vs system vs idle time)
Memory usage (RAM and swap)

HTOP — TOP’s Cooler, More Colorful Sibling

Think of htop as top that went to design school. Same information, but with pretty colors, bars, and way better shortcuts.

Why it’s better:

F6 - Choose what to sort by (like a TV remote for your processes)
F3 - Search for specific processes (find Waldo, but it's Firefox)
F9 - Kill processes with style (the humane way to end suffering)

ATOP — The Forensic Investigator

While other tools show you what’s happening now, atop is like having a security system that records everything. It takes snapshots at regular intervals, so you can go back and see what happened when things went sideways.

Perfect for those “my computer was slow yesterday at 3 PM” mysteries!

Getting Started: Your First Steps

Now that you know the basics, here’s your homework (don’t worry, it’s fun homework):

Try the nice command with a simple task like copying large files
Run htop and just watch your system breathe — it’s oddly satisfying
Use ps -aux to see what’s currently running on your system
Practice changing priorities with renice on non-critical processes

Think of this as learning to drive — you’re not racing Formula 1 yet, but you can definitely get around the block without crashing!

TLDR — The Cheat Sheet

Process Priority Basics:

nice -n [level] command - Start programs with different priorities (-20 = highest, 19 = lowest)
sudo renice -n [level] -p [pid] - Change priority of running processes

Basic Monitoring:

ps -aux - Snapshot of all processes
top or htop - Live system dashboard
atop - Historical system data