> I think the symptoms suggest some resource running out.  Typically I'm 
>> not around when it hangs (did I say constantly? :-).  But on the very 
>> few occasions when I have it appears to slowly (well over 30 seconds) 
>> die - one window hangs, next window hangs, mouse becomes sluggish ...
> 
> 
> Maybe you're running out of swap ? Can you make something to record swap
> usage (mrtg ? :) and see how it goes before the crash ?


I'll try anything.  The machine has 256mb ram, 1gb swap.

Andrew