diff -urN 2.3.47pre7/arch/alpha/mm/fault.c oom/arch/alpha/mm/fault.c
--- 2.3.47pre7/arch/alpha/mm/fault.c	Wed Nov 24 18:22:03 1999
+++ oom/arch/alpha/mm/fault.c	Mon Feb 21 01:21:29 2000
@@ -130,13 +130,13 @@
 	 * make sure we exit gracefully rather than endlessly redo
 	 * the fault.
 	 */
+survive:
 	fault = handle_mm_fault(current, vma, address, cause > 0);
-	up(&mm->mmap_sem);
-
 	if (fault < 0)
 		goto out_of_memory;
 	if (fault == 0)
 		goto do_sigbus;
+	up(&mm->mmap_sem);
 
 	return;
 
@@ -177,13 +177,23 @@
  * us unable to handle the page fault gracefully.
  */
 out_of_memory:
-	printk(KERN_ALERT "VM: killing process %s(%d)\n",
-	       current->comm, current->pid);
-	if (!user_mode(regs))
-		goto no_context;
-	do_exit(SIGKILL);
+	if (current->pid == 1)
+	{
+		current->policy |= SCHED_YIELD;
+		schedule();
+		goto survive;
+	}
+	up(&mm->mmap_sem);
+	if (user_mode(regs))
+	{
+		printk(KERN_ALERT "VM: killing process %s(%d)\n",
+		       current->comm, current->pid);
+		do_exit(SIGKILL);
+	}
+	goto no_context;
 
 do_sigbus:
+	up(&mm->mmap_sem);
 	/*
 	 * Send a sigbus, regardless of whether we were in kernel
 	 * or user mode.
diff -urN 2.3.47pre7/arch/i386/mm/fault.c oom/arch/i386/mm/fault.c
--- 2.3.47pre7/arch/i386/mm/fault.c	Sun Jan 30 15:43:27 2000
+++ oom/arch/i386/mm/fault.c	Mon Feb 21 01:21:29 2000
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 {
 	struct vm_area_struct * vma;
 	unsigned long start = (unsigned long) addr;
+	int fault;
 
 	if (!size)
 		return 1;
@@ -51,8 +52,12 @@
 	start &= PAGE_MASK;
 
 	for (;;) {
-		if (handle_mm_fault(current, vma, start, 1) <= 0)
-			goto bad_area;
+survive:
+		fault =  handle_mm_fault(current, vma, start, 1);
+		if (!fault)
+			goto do_sigbus;
+		if (fault < 0)
+			goto out_of_memory;
 		if (!size)
 			break;
 		size--;
@@ -75,6 +80,19 @@
 
 bad_area:
 	return 0;
+
+do_sigbus:
+	force_sig(SIGBUS, current);
+	goto bad_area;
+
+out_of_memory:
+	if (current->pid == 1)
+	{
+		current->policy |= SCHED_YIELD;
+		schedule();
+		goto survive;
+	}
+	goto bad_area;
 }
 
 static void __init handle_wp_test (void)
@@ -192,6 +210,7 @@
 	 * make sure we exit gracefully rather than endlessly redo
 	 * the fault.
 	 */
+survive:
 	{
 		int fault = handle_mm_fault(tsk, vma, address, write);
 		if (fault < 0)
@@ -288,10 +307,39 @@
  * us unable to handle the page fault gracefully.
  */
 out_of_memory:
+	if (tsk->pid == 1)
+	{
+		tsk->policy |= SCHED_YIELD;
+		schedule();
+		goto survive;
+	}
 	up(&mm->mmap_sem);
-	printk("VM: killing process %s\n", tsk->comm);
 	if (error_code & 4)
-		do_exit(SIGKILL);
+	{
+		if (tsk->oom_kill_try++ > 10 ||
+		    !((regs->eflags >> 12) & 3))
+		{
+			printk(KERN_ALERT "VM: killing process %s\n",
+			       tsk->comm);
+			do_exit(SIGKILL);
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			/*
+			 * The task is running with privilegies and so we
+			 * trust it and we give it a chance to die gracefully.
+			 */
+			printk(KERN_ALERT "VM: terminating process %s\n",
+			       tsk->comm);
+			force_sig(SIGTERM, current);
+			if (tsk->oom_kill_try > 1)
+			{
+				tsk->policy |= SCHED_YIELD;
+				schedule();
+			}
+			return;
+		}
+	}
 	goto no_context;
 
 do_sigbus:
diff -urN 2.3.47pre7/include/linux/sched.h oom/include/linux/sched.h
--- 2.3.47pre7/include/linux/sched.h	Mon Feb 21 01:02:36 2000
+++ oom/include/linux/sched.h	Mon Feb 21 01:22:23 2000
@@ -356,6 +356,9 @@
    	u32 self_exec_id;
 /* Protection of fields allocatio/deallocation */
 	struct semaphore exit_sem;
+
+/* oom handling, left at the end since it's not critical info */
+	int oom_kill_try;
 };
 
 /*
@@ -425,7 +428,8 @@
     blocked:		{{0}},						\
     sigqueue:		NULL,						\
     sigqueue_tail:	&tsk.sigqueue,					\
-    exit_sem:		__MUTEX_INITIALIZER(tsk.exit_sem)		\
+    exit_sem:		__MUTEX_INITIALIZER(tsk.exit_sem),		\
+    oom_kill_try:	0,						\
 }
 
 
diff -urN 2.3.47pre7/kernel/ptrace.c oom/kernel/ptrace.c
--- 2.3.47pre7/kernel/ptrace.c	Tue Feb 15 03:06:49 2000
+++ oom/kernel/ptrace.c	Mon Feb 21 01:21:29 2000
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 	unsigned long mapnr;
 	unsigned long maddr; 
 	struct page *page;
+	int fault;
 
 repeat:
 	pgdir = pgd_offset(vma->vm_mm, addr);
@@ -65,8 +66,12 @@
 
 fault_in_page:
 	/* -1: out of memory. 0 - unmapped page */
-	if (handle_mm_fault(tsk, vma, addr, write) > 0)
+	fault = handle_mm_fault(tsk, vma, addr, write);
+	if (fault > 0)
 		goto repeat;
+	if (fault < 0)
+		/* the out of memory is been triggered by the current task. */
+		force_sig(SIGKILL, current);
 	return 0;
 
 bad_pgd: