http://www.uwsg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0101.3/1221.html but don't have time to read all of it... there is a comment somewhere in there though that shows that Linus should shoot himself though.
I read it up until the point that my browser "couldn't find the server". Couldn't really see the comment. BUT
I prefer to use the addage:
To increase a servers speed- add more RAM, to increase it further add EVEN MORE RAM.
Same for desktop, ESPECIALLY since desktops tend to use IDE rather than SCSI(which is still not as fast as RAM). 128 MB (or 256 to be sure) should be fine, unless you use intensive apps such as 3D rendering and GIMP on big piccies. With the advent of large (32MB+) graphics cards, even 3D games don't really dent your RAM that much.
I'm not sure if the kernel actually needs a swap partition to be present, but in general losing 128 MB on a HD isn't exactly a great loss (especially as I couldn't find a first-hand IDE drive with less than 20GB), and £50 for 512MB isn't either (of course, that's just excessive, I was just trying to future-proof as much as poss).
My bets are: loadsa RAM, small swap. I think the 2xRAM thing was also partly due to RAM being expensive once-upon-a-time.
Ricardito
"There are several codes, and I know several of them." -Mr. Precise. http://www.rscampos.net