how program can use more than 256 processes

[George Chavdarov]

 Hello all,
 i have following problem
 maximum limit of processes is 256 for any user
 kernel supports up to 1024 (kernel 2.2)
 how i can make user to have more than 256 processes in fact i need it for
 mysql
 ulimit in shell and set it in /etc/limits.conf dont work.
 any ideas
 
 Best regards, George Chavdarov
 System administrator, www.dir.bg