Date: Mon, 05 Jul 1999 13:29:24 -0700 From: Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au> To: Warner Losh <imp@harmony.village.org> Cc: Marcel Moolenaar <marcel@FreeBSD.org>, cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org, cvs-all@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: cvs commit: src/sys/i386/linux linux_misc.c Message-ID: <199907052029.NAA14380@dingo.cdrom.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Mon, 05 Jul 1999 13:57:10 MDT." <199907051957.NAA57108@harmony.village.org>
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> In message <199907051918.MAA27874@freefall.freebsd.org> Marcel > Moolenaar writes: > : Let newuname return "Linux" as the OS name and not "FreeBSD". Also, return a > : more sensible (for Linux applications) release number. Hardcoding a release > : number has its drawbacks, but it will do for now. > > You may wish to review the archives. This was changed from Linux to > FreeBSD a long time ago. It was done so that people using Netscape, > et al won't bloat the Linux numbers. I should clarify this for the sake of people that weren't in the original discussion. The "Linux numbers" specifically referred to the numbers being kept by Netscape where they (supposedly) tracked the various platforms hosting their browser as it hit their homepage. - There's no evidence that these numbers are still being tracked. - There's no evidence that these numbers were ever used by anyone for anything. - If you care about influencing these numbers, it's beholden to you to make space on your disk next to your NRA screensaver for a kernel tree and a tweak where it's possible to specifically detect Netscape making a uname call to return whatever your favorite OS happens to be. The compatability code is just that; compatability code. If we're going to be compatible with Linux, that means returning "Linux" in the generic case. End of story. The original decision was emotional, and it has hurt us time and time again. It's time to fix things properly. -- \\ The mind's the standard \\ Mike Smith \\ of the man. \\ msmith@freebsd.org \\ -- Joseph Merrick \\ msmith@cdrom.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe cvs-all" in the body of the message
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