Number of Linux processes allowed?

["Nathan O. Siemers" <nathan@protos.bms.com>]

Hello, 

I'm getting some "out of processes" errors lately in my debian
1.1 installation. Typically this is returned to the shell when I try
to open a new xterm, etc.

Linux secura-8 2.0.0 #3 Sun Jun 23 22:23:43 PDT 1996 i486

"top" says I only have about 50 procs running, and I doubt Linux would
have a limit that low. Couldn't find a reference to a kernel variable
in the source or in the FAQ. Anyone have any ideas why this is
happening? Typically I have netscape, fvwm, goodstuff, dxpc, and
xterms open...

Thanks,

nathan

p.s. did the deb-user list burp recently? My subscription stopped
functioning and I had to resubscribe...