Please do not take this document seriously. It was written in 1997, when Linux 2.0.29 was current, and was intended to provoke discussion on the Linux SMP mailing list and inspire the creation of a real FAQ document. Fortunately, David Mentré was so inspired and wrote a real FAQ. The current Linux SMP HOWTO can be found here.

For historical purposes only, here is the "first draft" of the Linux SMP FAQ:

Date:   Sun, 02 Mar 1997 03:28:59 -0800
To: linux-smp@vger.rutgers.edu
From: Chris Pirih 
Subject: a proposed Linux-SMP FAQ list, v0.01

1. Does Linux support multi-threading?  If I start two or more
processes, will they be distributed among the available CPUs?

A: Yes.


2. How do I make a Linux SMP kernel?

A: Uncomment the SMP=1 line in the Makefile.


3. How can I tell if it worked?

A: cat /proc/cpuinfo.


4. The 'time' command shows one process using 'user' time,
and the rest using 'system' time, even when all processes are
user-bound.  What gives?

A: Known bug.  Low priority.


5. I'm thinking about getting a dual-CPU motherboard.  Does
anybody have experience with model <foo> in configuration <bar>?

A: Yes.  It works fine.


6.... er, any others?

---
chris

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