diff -urN ref/include/linux/sched.h 2.4.4aa3/include/linux/sched.h
--- ref/include/linux/sched.h	Tue May  1 19:24:09 2001
+++ 2.4.4aa3/include/linux/sched.h	Tue May  1 17:20:05 2001
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@
  * all fields in a single cacheline that are needed for
  * the goodness() loop in schedule().
  */
-	int counter;
+	volatile int counter;
 	int nice;
 	unsigned int policy;
 	struct mm_struct *mm;
diff -urN ref/kernel/fork.c 2.4.4aa3/kernel/fork.c
--- ref/kernel/fork.c	Tue May  1 19:24:09 2001
+++ 2.4.4aa3/kernel/fork.c	Tue May  1 19:26:10 2001
@@ -666,17 +666,18 @@
 	p->pdeath_signal = 0;
 
 	/*
-	 * Give the parent's dynamic priority entirely to the child.  The
-	 * total amount of dynamic priorities in the system doesn't change
-	 * (more scheduling fairness), but the child will run first, which
-	 * is especially useful in avoiding a lot of copy-on-write faults
-	 * if the child for a fork() just wants to do a few simple things
-	 * and then exec(). This is only important in the first timeslice.
-	 * In the long run, the scheduling behavior is unchanged.
+	 * Scheduling the child first is especially useful in avoiding a
+	 * lot of copy-on-write faults if the child for a fork() just wants
+	 * to do a few simple things and then exec().
 	 */
-	p->counter = current->counter;
-	current->counter = 0;
-	current->need_resched = 1;
+	{
+		int counter = current->counter;
+		p->counter = (counter + 1) >> 1;
+		current->counter = counter >> 1;
+		p->policy &= ~SCHED_YIELD;
+		current->policy |= SCHED_YIELD;
+		current->need_resched = 1;
+	}
 	/* Tell the parent if it can get back its timeslice when child exits */
 	p->get_child_timeslice = 1;