"fork" command?

[Richard Gaskin]

I'm just far enough into Robert Love's "Linux System Programming" that I 
think the solution to FastCGI may be much simpler than I'd previously 
thought.

I think we need a new command that launches a specified process but in a 
way that uses a call to "fork" to pass file descriptors (which include 
sockets and other I/O info) to the child process.

In many ways it would work very similarly to the existing "open 
process", but allow params to give the child process access to things 
like socket connections, pipes, files, etc. the parent process has 
access to at the time the child process is launched.

It would seem least intrusive on the code base to implement it as a new 
command, perhaps called "fork".

That said, I have to admit the risk of Dunning-Kruger effect here:  I'm 
not that far into the book, and my knowledge in this area is far below 
my aspirations.

But for those of you more familiar with Linux system programming, do I 
misunderstand the difficulty involved?

Forking seems so common in other tools, and not having it appears to be 
the one detail standing between where we are now and having not just 
FastCGI, but also being able to build truly excellent application 
servers on par with Node.js and other similar systems.

LiveCode is a great language, and if we had the ability to fork we 
should be able to build a wide range of powerful, scalable, efficient 
systems, breaking far beyond the limitations of CGI we're limited to now.

If all we need is a new command to wrap the Linux "fork" call, after I 
finish Love's book I may brush up on my C skills and give it a go.

But who wants to wait for that.  Is there anyone in our community who 
could do this now?

Do I misunderstand what's needed here?

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
  ____________________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com