diff -ru linux/Documentation/Configure.help /usr/src/linux/Documentation/Configure.help
--- linux/Documentation/Configure.help	Tue Feb  2 16:12:46 1999
+++ /usr/src/linux/Documentation/Configure.help	Mon Feb  1 13:04:48 1999
@@ -854,6 +854,14 @@
   ("Ctrl-h i") or with the program info ("man info"). Enabling this
   option enlarges your kernel by about 7kB. Just say Y.
 
+IDLE scheduling class
+CONFIG_SCHED_IDLE
+  This option will create an additional scheduling class that 
+  may be used to run background process (such as distributed.net)
+  without degrading system performance.  If any other processes
+  desire CPU resources, processes running with the SCHED_IDLE
+  scheduling class will be starved off the CPU.
+
 Kernel support for ELF binaries
 CONFIG_BINFMT_ELF
   ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) is a format for libraries and
diff -ru linux/arch/i386/config.in /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/config.in
--- linux/arch/i386/config.in	Tue Feb  2 16:13:05 1999
+++ /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/config.in	Mon Feb  1 13:02:05 1999
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
   fi
 fi
 bool 'System V IPC' CONFIG_SYSVIPC
+bool 'IDLE scheduling class' CONFIG_SCHED_IDLE
 tristate 'Kernel support for a.out binaries' CONFIG_BINFMT_AOUT
 tristate 'Kernel support for ELF binaries' CONFIG_BINFMT_ELF
 if [ "$CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL" = "y" ]; then
diff -ru linux/include/linux/sched.h /usr/src/linux/include/linux/sched.h
--- linux/include/linux/sched.h	Tue Feb  2 15:50:09 1999
+++ /usr/src/linux/include/linux/sched.h	Mon Feb  1 13:08:12 1999
@@ -94,6 +94,18 @@
 #define SCHED_FIFO		1
 #define SCHED_RR		2
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_SCHED_IDLE
+#define SCHED_IDLE		3
+
+/* 
+ * Scheduling priority values
+ */
+#define SCHED_RR_PRIORITY	1000
+#define SCHED_FIFO_PRIORITY	1000
+#define SCHED_OTHER_PRIORITY	500
+#define SCHED_IDLE_PRIORITY	0
+
+#endif /* CONFIG_SHCED_IDLE */
 
 struct sched_param {
 	int sched_priority;
diff -ru linux/kernel/sched.c /usr/src/linux/kernel/sched.c
--- linux/kernel/sched.c	Tue Feb  2 15:49:15 1999
+++ /usr/src/linux/kernel/sched.c	Mon Feb  1 20:24:25 1999
@@ -240,6 +240,9 @@
  */
 static inline int goodness(struct task_struct * p, struct task_struct * prev, int this_cpu)
 {
+#ifdef CONFIG_SCHED_IDLE
+	int policy = p->policy;
+#endif
 	int weight;
 
 #ifdef __SMP__	
@@ -258,7 +261,12 @@
 	 * runqueue (taking priorities within processes
 	 * into account).
 	 */
+#ifdef CONFIG_SCHED_IDLE
+	if (policy == SCHED_RR ||
+		policy == SCHED_FIFO)
+#else
 	if (p->policy != SCHED_OTHER)
+#endif /* CONFIG_SCHED_IDLE */
 		return 1000 + p->rt_priority;
 
 	/*
@@ -283,7 +291,14 @@
 			weight += 1;
 	}
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_SCHED_IDLE
+	if (policy == SCHED_OTHER)
+		return SCHED_OTHER_PRIORITY + weight;
+	else
+		return SCHED_IDLE_PRIORITY + weight;
+#else
 	return weight;
+#endif /* CONFIG_SCHED_IDLE */
 }
 
 
@@ -457,7 +472,11 @@
 	}
 
 	/* if all runnable processes have "counter == 0", re-calculate counters */
+#ifdef CONFIG_SCHED_IDLE
+	if (c <= SCHED_OTHER_PRIORITY) {
+#else
 	if (!c) {
+#endif
 		for_each_task(p)
 			p->counter = (p->counter >> 1) + p->priority;
 	}
@@ -1468,7 +1487,11 @@
 	if (policy < 0)
 		policy = p->policy;
 	else if (policy != SCHED_FIFO && policy != SCHED_RR &&
-		 policy != SCHED_OTHER)
+		 policy != SCHED_OTHER
+#ifdef CONFIG_SCHED_IDLE
+		&& policy != SCHED_IDLE
+#endif
+		)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	
 	/*