Sometimes it becomes necessary to determine the version of the Ubuntu distribution, Debian or Linux Mint which is installed on your computer and current version kernels. For example, this is required when installing additional repositories or some programs compiled under different versions operating system. In the article, we will look at several examples of determining the version of Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint distributions.
Let's look a little differently between the zero point release and the first. The first release of an item usually contains a slightly newer software, but not always. Core system libraries can have the same version number as zero. Then what is the big noticeable difference between the two to be available as a different point release and as a partial update? Of course, bug fixes. Much, but too many bug fixes are coming in the first release. At least what is considered serious and of course what they promote is fixed by the developers.
How Ubuntu versions are numbered
Ubuntu versions are numbered in Year.Month (YY.MM) format. The date indicates when the release was made. In addition to the numeric version, each version is assigned a code name. Such as: Jaunty ,Jackalope , Lucid Lynx or Xenial Xerus .
How Debian versions are numbered
Debian versions are numbered in the usual numerical format (5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0) and, like Ubuntu, a codename is written. The system is named after the characters in the cartoon "Toy Story" ( Lenny , Squeeze , Wheezy , Jessie)
How to update safely?
Now see the difference for yourself. When the time is right, a warning will be sent to the Update Manager that a new version is available and we can if we want to update it. The first thing we need to do is go to the release notes and read what bugs this new version has.
Links usually have the same structure. That is, for the first release of version 04, the link will be as follows. After reading the summary of changes and fixing the fixed bugs. Backup here is as simple as copying these files to another medium.
How Linux Mint versions are numbered
Linux Mint versions are numbered in the usual numeric format, for example (15, 16, 17, 18), and like Ubuntu or Debian, a code name is written. Call the system female names (Olivia , Petra , Qiana , Sarah ). Initially, the project envisaged that several versions of Linux Mint could be released in one release of Ubuntu. However, as of version 5.0 of Elyssa, this approach has been dropped. Distributions began to be numbered with integers, as it was decided to follow the standard six-month Ubuntu development cycle. Since version 17.0 (codenamed Qiana), the distribution has been switched to a two-year development cycle and has become based exclusively on LTS versions of Ubuntu.
Determine the distribution version from the command line
Team lsb_release is designed to display information about the current version of the distribution. Let's take an example on Linux distribution mint. We type in the terminal:
lsb_release -a
Information about your distribution kit will appear on the screen:
No LSB modules are available. Distributor ID: Linux Mint Description: Linux Mint 18 Sarah Release: 18 Codename: Sarah
In this case it is Linux Mint 18 codename Sarah
As you can see, we got the version (Release) and codename (Codename).
The version information is also stored in the /etc/lsb-release file. To display the values of a file, run in command line command:
Cat /etc/lsb-release
Distribution information will appear on the screen.
DISTRIB_ID=Linux Mint DISTRIB_RELEASE=18 DISTRIB_CODENAME=Sarah DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Linux Mint 18 Sarah"
Another easy way to determine the version is to look at the contents of the /etc/issue file, although the file itself serves somewhat different purposes. To do this, on the command line, type:
Cat /etc/issue
This command will display something like this:
Linux Mint 18 Sarah \n \l
Determining the distribution version without using the command line
There are a few simple ways version definitions without using the command line.
In Linux Mint go to Menu->System Options->About
The About window will open, where you will see information about Linux version Mint, current kernel version, and more.
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In the Linux Mint menu, type Help and press Enter. The Linux Mint documentation will download. On home page Help will tell you which version of the distribution you are using.
Finding the current kernel version
Above I wrote how you can determine the version of the Linux Mint kernel using the System information. But you can also use the uname command to determine the kernel version. Run on the command line:
Uname-r
This command will display the following on the screen:
4.4.0-38-generic
The -r option is used to display information about the kernel version.
You can also display all the information provided by the uname command by running the command with the -a option:
Uname-a
the command will output the following:
Linux pc-desktop 4.4.0-38-generic #57-Ubuntu SMP Tue Sep 6 15:42:33 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
It will also be useful to read about the release history of Ubuntu, Debian and Linux Mint distributions.
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