(System: 11.10 running Unity 3D)
When update-apt-xapi is running, CPU usage stays at 100% (for about a couple of minutes). Is that normal?
I understand that the command runs update-apt-xapian-index to update the index of software packages.
My question is this: is such high CPU usage for a couple of minutes acceptable? (I have a Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop and the processor is "Intel® Core™2 Duo CPU T6400 @ 2.00GHz × 2 ")
If it could be harmful, what precaution can a non-technically proficient user take?
Best Answer
It is completely harmless. If it were to go on and on and on, you could run:
sudo killall update-apt-xapian-indexto save your CPU from frying :D, which is only likely to be a risk when your system has bad cooling.
To answer your "sub-question", it is not really "acceptable", so much as it is not what is ideal, but it is "acceptable" in the sense that it does not stay going for long enough to cause damage :).
Pro-tip:
When this program is running, stop doing what ever it is you are doing on the computer at the time unless it is critical/important, and if you have the cpu-frequency indicator, set it to performance for the moment, and let the application run through its paces. This way, it will finish faster, and your system will be smoother to use when it's over (because of less of a lock on the resources).