Calling uname
without any options will return the Operating System codename:
The m
option shows the hardware name (x86_64
in this example) and the p
option prints the processor architecture name (i386
in this example):
The s
option prints the Operating System name. r
prints the release, v
prints the version:
The n
option prints the node network name:
The a
option prints all the information available:
On macOS you can also use the sw_vers
command to print more information about the macOS Operating System. Note that this differs from the Darwin (the Kernel) version, which above is 19.6.0
.
Darwin is the name of the kernel of macOS. The kernel is the “core” of the Operating System, while the Operating System as a whole is called macOS. In Linux, Linux is the kernel, GNU/Linux would be the Operating System name, although we all refer to it as “Linux”
The uname
command works on Linux, macOS, WSL, and anywhere you have a UNIX environment
Download my free Linux Commands Handbook
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