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Date:      Fri, 10 Oct 1997 08:18:06 -0400 (EDT)
From:      Thomas David Rivers <rivers@dignus.com>
To:        jlemon@americantv.com, rivers@dignus.com
Cc:        cracauer@cons.org, freebsd-emulation@freefall.FreeBSD.org, freebsd-hackers@freefall.FreeBSD.org
Subject:   Re: LINUX emulation and uname(3).
Message-ID:  <199710101218.IAA08913@lakes.dignus.com>

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> On Oct 10, 1997 at 10:49:40PM -0400, Thomas David Rivers wrote:
> > I have a program, written for Linux, that uses the uname() information
> > as part of its license check...
> > 
> > Unfortunately, the check fails... the company indicates that the
> > failure is due to incorrect uname() information.
> > 
> > So - does the uname() call under Linux emulation claim to be a LINUX
> > box?  - or - does it claim to be a FreeBSD box...
> > 
> 
> The Linux uname() call currently reports the FreeBSD info.  I suppose
> that this could be made into a sysctl if it really becomes a nuisance?
> (see sys/i386/linux/linux_misc.c:linux_newuname for the implementation)
> --
> Jonathan
> 

 Well - it was a nuisance in this case, as I was unable to run the
particular Linux program I wanted to run...

 And, of course, you are right... I got a small program that simply
calls uname() on Linux and ran it on FreeBSD - it reported the FreeBSD
info...

 However, after reporting what I was doing, the company sent me a new
license key (with the idea that "FreeBSD" would be returned in the utsname
fields), which worked...  

 It's just a bother for the various companies, and it means that our claim
of being able to run Linux binaries isn't as complete as we may have wanted.

 Maybe a sysctl, so people could taylor it, is the right thing to do.  
In any event, I think a uname() call under Linux emulation should claim
to be "Linux" and not "FreeBSD".  So, the default should be "Linux"...

	- Dave Rivers -




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