sys_utsname.h(7POSIX)

📦 version 2017a, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

🎀 PROLOG 🎀

okay bestie, real talk before we even start: this page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual 💅 — and the Linux implementation of this interface may differ, so if you're on Linux, go check the corresponding Linux manual page for the details on how Linux actually does it. also, lowkey important: the interface may not even be implemented on Linux. so vibe check before you ship, fr fr. 🙈

✨ NAME ✨

sys/utsname.h — the system name structure 🦋

(yes that's the whole name section. we're already eating.)

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <sys/utsname.h>

that's it. that's the whole entry point. iconic. 👑

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so the <sys/utsname.h> header shall define the structure utsname, and it shall include at least these members, no cap:

    char  sysname[]  Name of this implementation of the operating system.
    char  nodename[] Name of this node within the communications
                     network to which this node is attached, if any.
    char  release[]  Current release level of this implementation.
    char  version[]  Current version level of this release.
    char  machine[]  Name of the hardware type on which the system is running.

the way each one of these is literally just a lil label for a different part of the machine you're on… main character energy for real. 🫶

now for the fine print, bestie, because it matters: the character arrays are of unspecified size, but the data stored in them shall be terminated by a null byte. so don't go assuming a size, and don't go assuming no null. both of those things will ruin your day. 😭

and also — this next one shall be declared as a function, and it may also be defined as a macro:

int uname(struct utsname *);

yes, macro. so don't do anything cursed with that name and expect it to behave like a function pointer, iykyk. 💀

the following sections are informative. 💅

🍓 APPLICATION USAGE 🍓

None.

(genuinely none. nothing to add. she said what she said.) ✨

🧚 RATIONALE 🧚

None.

(also none. the rationale is simply that she's right.) 💜

🌈 FUTURE DIRECTIONS 🌈

None.

(no future directions either. the future is bright and also empty. slay.) ⭐

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

the System Interfaces volume of POSIX.1‐2017, specifically uname(). go read that one, bestie, it's the whole point of this header. 🔥

portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. 📜

and here's the part you actually need to remember: in the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. periodt. the original is the boss. 💅

the original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source files to man page format. to report such errors, see https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html . 🫶

okay that's the whole page, and she came from IEEE/The Open Group, 2017, filed under sys_utsname.h(7POSIX). go call uname() on something, bestie — you got this. 💖✨🎀🦋🌸💅
📦 where this page comes from