There are a number of ways to see information about what version of Linux that you’re running on different
cat /etc/lsb-release
Which returns the distribution information, parsed as follows:
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=12.04.5
DISTRIB_CODENAME=precise
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu Precise Pangolin (LTS)"
LSB_release can also be run as a command, as follows:
lsb_release -a
Which returns the following:
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu Precise Pangolin (LTS)
Release: 12.04.5
Codename: precise
lab_release can be used as a command as well:
cat /etc/issue.net
Which returns:
Ubuntu Precise Pangolin
(development branch)
In Debian, you can simply look at the version file:
cat /etc/debian_version
Which returns the following:
wheezy/sid
Or Red Hat Enterprise can also be located with /etc/issue.net:
cat /etc/issue.net
With many variants, including OS X, you can also use uname to determine kernel extensions, etc:
uname -a
The thing I’ve learned about Linux is that there’s always a better way to do things. So feel free to comment on your better way or favorite variant!