> For what is worth, I've always advocated creating a simplified OS module
> or constant for that like that of python.
>
> python> import os
> python> os.name
> 'posix', 'nt', 'mac', 'os2', 'ce', 'java', 'riscos'.

That would be nice--
os.compiler_type # mingw, etc.
os.how_many_bits # 64, 32

But as mentioned it may be already solved by the rubygems tuple
(should it be globally accessible).

> The main reason is that this way you actually document all platforms
> properly that ruby supports, unlike what we have now.
> With a regexp, until you actually sit on a machine that actually runs a
> certain OS, you really have no clue what string to match against.
> For years I was using /win/ only to then have 'darwin' appear, breaking
> code.

Also breaks with mingw.
Thanks for your help.

-- 
-Roger Pack
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind" -- 2 Timothy 1:7