proper way to determine arch of *installed* OS, not processor?

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Fri, 6 May 2011, Chris Jones wrote:

> >
> >  i'm not sure that's correct, and i know this question comes up on
> > occasion.  in fact, a quick google found this:
> >
> > http://stackoverflow.com/questions/246007/how-to-determine-whether-a-given-linux-is-32-bit-or-64-bit
> >
> > where someone first suggests "uname -m", but a followup claims that
> > that command with a 32-bit debian OS on a 64-bit system claims 64
> > bits, which is not the answer one would want.
> >
> >  i ask since i'm looking at a startup script for software i just
> > downloaded where that wrapper reads:
>
> I have access to a machine that has 32 bit SLC4 installed. uname gives
>
> pcfl ~ > uname -i
> i386

  weirdly, that command on my 64-bit system gives me "unknown", so it
doesn't look like "uname -i" is sufficiently reliable.  looks like
"uname -m" might be what i'm looking for.  can you tell me what that
prints?

rday

-- 

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                                 Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
                        http://crashcourse.ca

Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
LinkedIn:                               http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
========================================================================