diff -urN oldtree/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt newtree/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt
--- oldtree/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt	2006-09-29 13:50:42.000000000 -0400
+++ newtree/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt	2006-09-29 14:36:28.000000000 -0400
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 - domainname
 - hostname
 - hotplug
+- interactive
 - java-appletviewer           [ binfmt_java, obsolete ]
 - java-interpreter            [ binfmt_java, obsolete ]
 - l2cr                        [ PPC only ]
@@ -160,6 +161,15 @@
 
 ==============================================================
 
+interactive: (Staircase only)
+
+This flag controls the allocation of dynamic priorities in the cpu
+scheduler. It gives low cpu using tasks high priority for lowest
+latencies. Nice value is still observed but stricter cpu proportions
+are obeyed if this tunable is disabled. Enabled by default.
+
+==============================================================
+
 l2cr: (PPC only)
 
 This flag controls the L2 cache of G3 processor boards. If
diff -urN oldtree/include/linux/sched.h newtree/include/linux/sched.h
--- oldtree/include/linux/sched.h	2006-09-29 14:15:25.000000000 -0400
+++ newtree/include/linux/sched.h	2006-09-29 14:36:28.000000000 -0400
@@ -205,6 +205,9 @@
 
 void io_schedule(void);
 long io_schedule_timeout(long timeout);
+#ifdef CONFIG_STAIRCASE
+extern int sched_interactive;
+#endif
 
 extern void cpu_init (void);
 extern void trap_init(void);
diff -urN oldtree/include/linux/sysctl.h newtree/include/linux/sysctl.h
--- oldtree/include/linux/sysctl.h	2006-09-29 14:16:42.000000000 -0400
+++ newtree/include/linux/sysctl.h	2006-09-29 14:36:28.000000000 -0400
@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@
 	KERN_MAX_LOCK_DEPTH=74,
 	KERN_NMI_WATCHDOG=75, /* int: enable/disable nmi watchdog */
 	KERN_PANIC_ON_NMI=76, /* int: whether we will panic on an unrecovered */
+        KERN_INTERACTIVE=77,	/* interactive tasks can have cpu bursts */
 };
 
 
diff -urN oldtree/kernel/sched_staircase.c newtree/kernel/sched_staircase.c
--- oldtree/kernel/sched_staircase.c	2006-09-29 14:32:34.000000000 -0400
+++ newtree/kernel/sched_staircase.c	2006-09-29 14:36:28.000000000 -0400
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@
 #include <asm/unistd.h>
 
 /*
+ * sched_interactive - sysctl which allows interactive tasks to have bonus
+ * raise its priority.
+ */
+int sched_interactive __read_mostly = 1;
+
+/*
  * Convert user-nice values [ -20 ... 0 ... 19 ]
  * to static priority [ MAX_RT_PRIO..MAX_PRIO-1 ],
  * and back.
@@ -855,7 +861,7 @@
 
 	best_bonus = bonus(p);
 	prio = MAX_RT_PRIO + best_bonus;
-	if (!batch_task(p))
+	if (sched_interactive && !batch_task(p))
 		prio -= p->bonus;
 
 	rr = rr_interval(p);
diff -urN oldtree/kernel/sysctl.c newtree/kernel/sysctl.c
--- oldtree/kernel/sysctl.c	2006-09-29 14:16:42.000000000 -0400
+++ newtree/kernel/sysctl.c	2006-09-29 14:36:28.000000000 -0400
@@ -626,6 +626,16 @@
 		.mode		= 0444,
 		.proc_handler	= &proc_dointvec,
 	},
+#ifdef CONFIG_STAIRCASE
+        {
+                .ctl_name       = KERN_INTERACTIVE,
+                .procname       = "interactive",
+                .data           = &sched_interactive,
+                .maxlen         = sizeof (int),
+                .mode           = 0644,
+                .proc_handler   = &proc_dointvec,
+        },
+#endif
 #if defined(CONFIG_X86_LOCAL_APIC) && defined(CONFIG_X86)
 	{
 		.ctl_name       = KERN_UNKNOWN_NMI_PANIC,