what is the best way to determine system OS?

[googleboy]

Thanks for the edifying responses.  I will try out these things and
figure out if I have enough to solve my problem.

What this script does is use take the output of vmstat to report idle
cpu cycles (or memory stuff, etc.) over a period specified by a
parameter,  all the better to be a plugin for a monitoring service.

Basically it parses the output of the command,  runs through a whole
bunch of regex to discard everything not required and then reports the
info.  Everything I had checked out that responded "Linux" to a uname
command had identical output for vmstat until FC3.   FC3 seems to use
similar output to BSD.   I wrote a simple if-then loop to try to
determine which regex function to use, but it obivously isn't working
under fc3.

I could post the script if you'd like to look at it, but I was a little
bit afraid of looking like a total newbie.  I don't get an excuse to
write code very often so it is probably quite lame.

B)


I will have a look at platform and see what I can come up with.
Delving into libraries seems a little bit much for my current level
(though lots of fun).

Thanks for the responses!

googleboy