2004-01-12 08:04:25 CST life-threads++ is an experiment to prove that a greatly larger number of threads can be created under pthreads if one takes the trouble to reduce the size of the stack used by each thread. Ideally, one should be able to approach the value listed in the linux kernel under /proc/sys/kernel/threads-max . This experiment works with around half that target. Presumably something arcane (stack sharing between threads, perhaps) could approach the target more closely. The choice of Tim Conway's automaton was simply based on a long-standing desire to give the cells a little independence.