Microsoft Research: A fork() in the road

Here's aresearch paper from Andrew Baumann, Jonathan Appavoo, Orran Krieger, andTimothy Roscoe, published on the Microsoft Research site, arguing that thefork() system call is a fundamental design mistake. "As the designers andimplementers of operating systems, we should acknowledge that fork'scontinued existence as a first-class OS primitive holds back systemsresearch, and deprecate it. As educators, we should teach fork as ahistorical artifact, and not the first process creation mechanism studentsencounter." The discussion of better alternatives is limited,though.