> > I read in some post to comp.unix.programmer that the maximum pid > > is 30000, and that's a historical limit, going back to AT&T SysV. > > It'll probably need a kernel hacker to shed some light ... > > Nah. I've a shell here with a pid of 31948.. Maybe he actually meant 2^16 - 1. Which would make a lot more sense than 30000.