Comment 166 for bug 1572801

I've had the java 8 memory leak with lubuntu 16.04.

As for using excessive memory from the start, like over a gigabyte with nothing else running, I've seen it in Ubuntu (Unity, Gnome, KDE) and Linux Mint 18 (Cinnamon and KDE), which is based on Ubuntu 16.04. I have not observed this excessive memory use with debian 8 or 9 KDE. However Debian 9 does use more than Debian 8. Usually I have .75 GB memory use with Debian 9 KDE with dropbox and nvidia proprietary drivers installed and nothing else running, but the same setup on the same computers with Ubuntu 16.04 and Linux Mint 18 of most desktop environments available through normal channels are always around a GB or more in the same situation. So I believe this is an Ubuntu problem since it does not exist upstream but does exist downstream. Furthermore, I no longer believe it is Gnome, because it exists in KDE for me too.

insp, for migrating you can get an external drive to save your important files. Or you can use cloud backups. Or what I do sometimes is to make a new partition on the same drive if there is space, install the other linux OS, and then copy all the files between partitions in the new OS. Make sure you edit the permissions of the files in the old OS first or you might have trouble copying. Sadly, I doubt Linux Mint 18 will help since it is a rebadged Ubuntu 16.04, but Ubuntu 14.04 or the Linux Mint 17 series based on Ubuntu 14.04 should help. Or, if you are comfortable enough with linux, you can try debian which is what Ubuntu is based on. Debian just doesn't have all the proprietary drivers included by default for wireless and graphics, so it is a little more advanced to set up.