You SSH into a server to run a long task, the network drops, and the task is gone. Tmux exists to solve exactly this — it decouples the terminal session from the window, so the process keeps running after you close the terminal.

The Core Problem It Solves

An ordinary terminal window is bound to its processes. Close the window and the processes die. Same story when SSH drops.

Oracle’s Always Free plan gives you a 4-core, 24 GB ARM server every month — no expiry, no charge. The same specs cost $80–100/month on AWS. This post strings together signup, pitfalls, instance creation, and keep-alive.

What You Get

Oracle’s free tier is called Always Free. Not a trial, not a limited-time promo.

Running out of memory is the norm on Linux devices — especially small-memory VPSes, Raspberry Pis, and old laptops. The traditional fix is adding a SWAP partition, but many people find the box actually gets laggier after adding one.

Starting from how things work under the hood, this post compares SWAP and ZRAM so you know exactly which to use in which scenario, and how to configure them.

The VPS scene runs on a distinctive system of slang that reads like hieroglyphics to newcomers. This post collects the common terms and abbreviations so you can get up to speed fast.

People and Identity

MJJ

Originally referred to users hanging around the Hostloc forum; now a blanket term for anyone obsessed with tinkering with VPSes. It comes from a Hostloc forum meme, short for 买鸡鸡/没鸡鸡 (“bought a chicken / no chicken” — interpret it however you like). It started as a slur but gradually evolved into a self-deprecating badge of in-group identity, and in most contexts today it carries no malice (though some also use MJJ for players who pay little and demand much).