Howto find what distribution of Linux, you are running ?

I often compare different distributions of Linux with different flavors of icecream. Usually the comparison does click, for those who are confused with the versions and demands redhat linux on their desktop. Whenever I go to a home to install linux, they often want Redhat Linux. And it would my job to make them understand that we know their tastes better, when it comes to linux and end up in installing Ubuntu.

However in sysadmin profession, we logs into 100s of boxes every day. How do we know which version of Linux is installed and other details ? For debian based boxes, you check /etc/*version and redhat based boxes we do /etc/*release. But what about others and tons of flavors out there ?

Solution resides with Linux Standard Base, best explained at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Standard_Base which is a joint project by several Linux distributions under the organizational structure of the Linux Foundation

Know the command lsb_release and find them all.

lsb_release –all

Linux tip for the day