All-Purpose Distributed Computing

Markee writes "Wouldn't it be great if any program you write could be executed automatically in a parallel, heterogenious environment? The TSIA model (Task System and Architecture) suggests a way of programming in which any given program is divided into so-called tasks. An underlying operating system extension (similar to a scheduler) could dispatch these tasks across processors and systems, providing for inherently parallel, fail-safe execution in a heterogenious environment. Actually, the TSIA model is a generaliziation of what is already done in existing distributed computing environments like SETI@home. An implementation of this model would need only minor syntax extensions to given programming languages and a relatively modest OS extension for scheduling and dispatching. The TSIA web site looks primitive and features too many buzzwords, but nevertheless the documents are worth taking a look at. "