Right, my point being that it's should be up to the user to decide, because most of the times I run programs, I actually want them to be able to gobble up GB of disk, RAM and fully make use of my CPU. That's why I bought the hardware I have :)
Isn't that the default? The user has access to all available memory unless they (or an admin) set a restriction. Unavailable memory is only unavailable because writing to it crashes the kernel, thus preventing you from using your hardware!
> Isn't that the default?
Yes, it is, and for good reasons. That's why I disagreed with the original "An unprivileged userspace application, even if coded poorly, shouldn't crash the machine" part.
I don't follow. The default today is that an unprivileged user space application should not crash the machine. The kernel reserves what it needs, then hands the rest to user space. Thus, all available memory should not crash the machine.