the spec allows it. There is no telling whether future
processors will need it.
+---
+
+The code in sys_fork needs to read np->pid before
+setting np->state to RUNNABLE.
+
+ int
+ sys_fork(void)
+ {
+ int pid;
+ struct proc *np;
+
+ if((np = copyproc(cp)) == 0)
+ return -1;
+ pid = np->pid;
+ np->state = RUNNABLE;
+ return pid;
+ }
+
+After setting np->state to RUNNABLE, some other CPU
+might run the process, it might exit, and then it might
+get reused for a different process (with a new pid), all
+before the return statement. So it's not safe to just do
+"return np->pid;".
+