-*- mode: outline; coding: utf-8; -*-* uname -a $ uname -a Linux poly.tech-recipes.com 2.6.5-1.358 #1 Sat May 8 09:04:50 EDT 2004 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux kernel name: Linux hostname: poly.tech-recipes.com kernel release: 2.6.5-1.358 kernel version: #1 Sat May 8 09:04:50 EDT 2004* Linux** Version files.See for file `/etc/<distroname>-version' or `/etc/<distroname>-release'. $ cat determine-os.sh #!/bin/sh [ -e /etc/SuSE-release ] && echo This is a SuSE system. [ -e /etc/redhat-release ] && echo This is a redhat system. [ -e /etc/fedora-release ] && echo This is a fedora system. [ -e /etc/debian-version ] && echo This is a debian system. [ -e /etc/slackware-version ] && echo This is a slackware system.See also list: Novell SuSE /etc/SuSE-release Red Hat /etc/redhat-release, /etc/redhat_version Fedora /etc/fedora-release Slackware /etc/slackware-release, /etc/slackware-version Debian /etc/debian_release, /etc/debian_version, Mandrake /etc/mandrake-release Yellow dog /etc/yellowdog-release Sun JDS /etc/sun-release Solaris/Sparc /etc/release Gentoo /etc/gentoo-release** Kernel version information.Commonly, distributions will leave tags in the kernel version string to identifythemselves. This can be found in the log files like /var/log/syslog or /var/log/messages. $ cat /etc/issueor $ cat /proc/versionEven if you run a custom kernel, you might still get hints from the gcc version like thisone line from /var/log/syslog: Feb 20 05:54:07 sarge kernel: nf3 (root@sarge) (gcc version 3.4.4 20050314 (prerelease) (Debian 3.4.3-13sarge1)) #1 PREEMPT Thu Nov 16 20:31:43 CET 2006** 'lsb_release' command. $ sudo apt-get install lsb-release $ lsb_release -s -iDebian $ lsb_release -s -csqueeze $ lsb_release -s -r6.0