[ubuntu-uk] uname -a for 32 bit os on 64 bit cpu

[Avi Greenbury]

Juan J. wrote:

> For -m says "on which the system is running", which doesn't seem to be
> coherent with the uname output we are getting in a 64 bit system
> running a 32 bit kernel.

It depends why you are interested. 

When a 686 kernel is running on an amd64 chip, it *is* running on 686
hardware (it must be since it is running 686 code), but it is some 686
hardware with extensions such that it can also run amd64 code. 

If it was only capable of running amd64 code there'd be no problems
because you couldn't run anything other than amd64 kernels on it, but
that's not how it was designed.

The ambiguity comes from the fact that an amd64 chip is both a 686 chip
and an amd64 chip. I suspect it also doesn't help that, historically,
users of uname have expected to be told about the kernel that was
running for purposes of crafting things that run on that kernel, rather
than information about the underlying hardware for the purposes of
choosing a new kernel.

-- 
Avi