Does anyone know what the different characters in the tload graph output mean? Mostly there are * but I also = and -.
It's just the graphical (weird) representation of the last minute load average of the system over the time.
The "*"s are just the representation of the level of load average. Understand it as a clasical "area graph". The "-" sings just define the unities of load, and the "=" substitute the "-" when the bar passes the line that marks the unit of the graph. You can change the scale with the "-s flag".
A visual example may be clearer:
------------------------------------- load 3
*
**
--------------------====------------- load 2
** ****** **
****** *************
********* **************
--=========-------==============----- load 1
*************************************
*************************************
*************************************
************************************* load 0
In case don't know how to interpret the load average numbers check this wikipedia link
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can you elaborate on what unities of load stand for and how it's associated with load average numbers? – Jerry Chin Sep 7 '17 at 8:26
