How do I check the operating system in Python?

linux, operating-system, python

Solution

You can use `sys.platform`:

from sys import platform
if platform == "linux" or platform == "linux2":
    # linux
elif platform == "darwin":
    # OS X
elif platform == "win32":
    # Windows...

`sys.platform` has finer granularity than `sys.name`.

For the valid values, consult the documentation.

See also the answer to “What OS am I running on?”

Problem

I want to check the operating system (on the computer where the script runs). I know I can use `os.system('uname -o')` in Linux, but it gives me a message in the console, and I want to write to a variable. It will be okay if the script can tell if it is Mac, Windows or Linux. How can I check it?

Original source

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