A GitHub project now checks Linux computers every five minutes and can email Sam Altman when more than 10% of RAM is free.
Iain Kay published the Bash script, called Ram-Altman, to report unused memory on a Linux computer to the OpenAI chief, monitoring usage and triggering a report when the available share passes its threshold. It checks every five minutes.
The script is designed to limit the joke rather than continuously contact its target.
Altman discussed the limited global supply of DRAM on the Cheeky Pint podcast, a concern that prompted the project. He said it was “quite terrible to have everybody have a bunch of the world's limited supply of DRAM sitting in their own computer” when it was being used “maybe 5% of the time.”
Later, Altman wrote on X that he wanted people to have as much memory as they wanted in their computers. He said his earlier remark had been taken out of context.
The project’s name refers to a brief change in Altman’s display name to “Ram Altman”. Its framing is direct: “He can't fix the problem if nobody tells him where the RAM is,” Amber Rutherford, Senior Editor at 80.lv, wrote.
The script’s example message turns the argument into a personal computer report.
The example closes with the sign-off “Hoarding responsibly, A concerned RAM owner”.
Figures vary between accounts of the project: two give the example as 8.6 GiB, while another gives it as 8.6 GB. That amount represents 56.2% of the computer’s installed memory, the example says.
Altman’s later clarification didn’t remove the project’s central joke. The script treats unused memory as something to disclose, while his X post said, “I actually do want the world to have tons of memory and people to put as much as they want in their computers”
The developer has warned users against turning the project into mass emailing.
“One email a day from one person is a joke. Ten thousand of them is a denial-of-service attack with better material,” Iain Kay wrote in the repository.
Online reaction included mockery of the project and criticism of Altman’s DRAM comments. One commenter called it “The first type of cyberbullying I support”.
Rising RAM prices made it harder for users to upgrade their devices as the debate unfolded. A separate high-memory computer example shows the scale of systems now marketed to buyers.
BOSGAME opened orders for the M5 MAX mini PC at $6,199. It has a Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 processor, 192GB of LPDDR5 memory soldered to the motherboard, a 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD and an M.2 2280 expansion slot for another PCIe 4.0 drive.
The Ram-Altman script is narrower than that hardware example. It focuses on the share of memory not being used on an individual Linux computer, rather than the total capacity installed.
The program offers a dry-run option so users can preview messages without sending them, but it doesn’t include Altman’s email address by default. Users must configure their own email account before delivery can work.
It requires Linux. Windows users can run it through WSL, while macOS is not directly supported.
It’s also unknown how many people have downloaded or run it, whether Altman’s email address is publicly known or how users are meant to direct messages to him.
Anyone choosing to run the project must decide whether to send the reports and configure the delivery system themselves.
