RedHat, Solaris - what is uname command ??

Hi ! All

I'm big fan of Unix/Linux . I want understand the basics of linux/unix version and How they are related to Vendor [ Solaris , HP, RH ]... releases.

uname -a will give the OS details. But can somebody provide me a pointer , to understand the very BASICS of these terminology like [ 32 -bit , 64 -bit , GNU,SPARC..etc. ]

Million Thanks.!!!

I'm not quite clear on what you're asking besides what 32-bit, 64-bit, GNU, SPARC means.

32/64 -bit architecture - defined by the CPU capabilities.

32-bit CPUs are used in your traditional i386/x86 computers.

SPARC is a RISC CPU designed by Sun Microsystems.

GNU has nothing to do with CPUs. GNU is an acronym for GNU is Not Unix. (This is where my confusion on your "real" question lies -- GNU is not related to CPU architecture.)

i think he wants to know about the kernel release ..for example 2.6.28.2 and 2.6.29-rc5 and how is it different from one another..and how does one find out which kernel is to be used for which architecture ,i think he wants to be find out kernel release cycle