`uname' survey results -- bad news, it's #@!!%@# useless

[Doug Gwyn]

In article <dpeXV#37c3rr=eric at snark.UUCP> eric at snark.UUCP (Eric S. Raymond) writes:
>The upshot of all this is that uname is effectively useless.

As I said when you first raised the issue.

I've seen some very comprehensive attempts at auto-configuration, but they
invariably fail when run in a strange environment that the author had been
unaware of.  For example, the BRL UNIX System V emulation for 4BSD, or some
variation thereof, is fairly widely used, and there are two distinct
operating environments on such systems (also on Pyramids, Apollos, Suns,
and others).  Plus, many of us use alternative mail systems, spooling
systems, networking systems, and so forth.  How is any automatic procedure
supposed to figure out how to set up a specific consistent environment under
such circumstances, particularly when one environment is only partial and
relies on the other to fill in the gaps?  I think the best practical
solution to configuration is to get the system administrator (software
importer) to edit a text file that describes the specific environmental
characteristics.  Then verify as far as possible that the configuration
does indeed work..