Here are a few ways to find out which linux distro you are using :
- From the Boot Time messages
Fire up your favourite terminal program and type in the following
dmesg | head -1
The output would be similar to
Linux version 2.6.13-15-default (geeko@buildhost) (gcc version 4.0.2 20050901 (prerelease) (SUSE Linux)) #1 Tue Sep 13 14:56:15 UTC 2005 - Using /proc/version
In the terminal type
cat /proc/version
The output would be like
Linux version 2.6.13-15-default (geeko@buildhost) (gcc version 4.0.2 20050901 (prerelease) (SUSE Linux)) #1 Tue Sep 13 14:56:15 UTC 2005 - Using /etc/issue
This method gives the most appropriate answer
cat /etc/issue
The output should be like
Welcome to SUSE LINUX 10.0 (i586) - Kernel \r (\l).
Check out this for a script to find out your Distro.
technorati tags:suse, linux, distro
Cool. I had been wondering about this, since uname -a doesn’t tell you the distro.
yeah uname just says that you are using GNU/Linux and your machine architecture
Ok. Ok. This is for Geeks. I use the simple method.
Look for the name of the CD from which I installed Linux . . . LOL.
And: The name has to be written somewhere. Come on. Not possible that isn’t.
lolzz…the name has to be in the README file insde the CD
Otherwise just boot from the CD and you will get a screen with the name of that Distro in the Installation Screen..
But this method would come to your help if your asked to write a C Program which would tell the user which Distro he is using !!
Thanks for the info ! I’m running some version of CentOS and was going crazy trying to find a simple command that could tell me the version.
So many wise-asses in the many forums I searched in for the solution who think you always get an install-CD / never update / otherwise say ‘you better know what u r running’
Thank you for this. You’d be surprised how many people thing this is a weird question
Most of the solutions above give the version of the Linux kernel that’s running, which is not necessarily the same as the version of the distribution. I find this command (two in one, actually) to be the most useful:
uname -a && cat /etc/*release
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uname -a typed in a terminal will give you the kernel name.
uname -a && cat /etc/*release typed i a terminal will give you your distribution name and number.
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lwc
And from where do i find this terminal?
Im a complete newbie when it comes to linux. I would like to download things so i could watch shows on the laptop, but im having a hard time doing so. It just wont let me download anything. etting slightly frustrated.
Any help would be highly appreciated
cassie, press Alt + F2 in your desktop, then type in “xterm” (without quotes) this would get you the terminal.
lloyd, the commands don’t work as described..