cacheflush_time in arch/i386/kernel/smp.c (2.2.15pre4)

I've seen a short spin-off from the java/threads/scheduling discussion
where it is mentioned cacheflush_time doesn't properly reflect the
penalty that is incurred when switching processes over to another CPU.
Indeed, if I increase this time 100 times, I don't see my john-1.6 (pw
cracker) process hop over every time I start mutt in xosview. 

A few questions: is this something that someone is doing anything with?
It was mentioned, and I never saw any follow-up. Would there be any way
of telling the kernel to let this process run on that CPU forever? Some
special nice-level or something like that? I can think of a few
processes I'd like to give just 1 cpu: john-1.6, vmware etc.

And if someone knows a xosview-like utility that runs without X, I'd be
grateful for tips, too.

Greetings,
Jurriaan
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