Possible values from sys.platform?

Question

What are the possible return values from the following command?

import sys
print sys.platform

I know there is a lot of possibilities, so I'm mainly interested in the "main" ones (Windows, Linux, Mac OS)

Answer 1

Mac OS X (10.4, 10.5):

darwin

Linux (2.6 kernel):

linux2

Windows XP (32 bit):

win32

Answer 2

As others have indicated, sys.platform is derived from the name that the system vendor gives their system. However, Python also adds plat- to sys.path, so you can look at all the plat-* directories in the Python distribution.

This gives you the list

aix3 aix4 atheos beos5 darwin freebsd2 freebsd3 freebsd4 freebsd5 freebsd6 freebsd7 generic irix5 irix6 linux2 mac netbsd1 next3 os2emx riscos sunos5 unixware7

Of course, sys.platform can have additional values, when Python gets compiled on a system for which no platform-specific directory has been created.

From here.

Answer 3

FreeBSD 7.0: freebsd7. FreeBSD8 but build performed on previous version, same answer.

So be aware you get the platform used for the build, not necessarely the one you're running on.