Both are important, and you may need to know one or both answers to fix a problem with a system. For example, knowing the installed kernel version might help diagnose an issue with proprietary drivers, and identifying what distribution is running will help you quickly figure out if you should be using apt, dnf, yum, or some other command to install packages.
There are several ways to figure out what distribution is running on a system, but the quickest way is the check the contents of the /etc/os-release file. This file provides information about a distribution including, but not limited to, the name of the distribution and its version number. The os-release file in some distributions contains more details than in others, but any distribution that includes an os-release file should provide a distribution's name and version.
As the example above shows, Fedora's os-release file provides the name of the distribution and the version, but it also identifies the installed variant (the "Workstation Edition"). If we ran the same command on Fedora 28 Server Edition, the contents of the os-release file would reflect that on the VARIANT and VARIANT_ID lines.
Sometimes it is useful to know if a distribution is like another, so the os-release file can contain an ID_LIKE line that identifies distributions the running distribution is based on or is similar to. For example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux's os-release file includes an ID_LIKE line stating that RHEL is like Fedora, and CentOS's os-release file states that CentOS is like RHEL and Fedora. The ID_LIKE line is very helpful if you are working with a distribution that is based on another distribution and need to find instructions to solve a problem.
CentOS's os-release file makes it clear that it is like RHEL, so documentation and questions and answers in various forums about RHEL should (in most cases) apply to CentOS. CentOS is designed to be a near clone of RHEL, so it is more compatible with its LIKE than some entries that might be found in the ID_LIKE field, but checking for answers about a "like" distribution is always a good idea if you cannot find the information you are seeking for the running distribution.
The uname and /etc/os-release commands are the most common methods for getting the version of Linux you're running and are available by default on any Linux system you run. There are, however, additional tools that can provide you a report about your system.
The hostnamectl command is available on most modern Linux distributions. If it's not already installed, you can install it from your software repository. Despite its humble name, it provides far more than just your hostname;
Some desktop environments offer similar system reporting tools. For instance, the KDE Plasma desktop provides KInfoCenter, which can tell you everything from your kernel and architecture to your available network interface cards, IP address, and much more.
Regardless of what tool you decide to make your default, getting the version and features of your OS is a seemingly simple but important skill. Remember these tips so the next time you need to see what you're running, you'll know several places you can find out.
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There certainly is a paucity of information with instructions for installing on VMware. I downloaded the XG ISO and tried to install it in VMware Player where I've played with UTM. I tried with several different choices for the underlying OS and was unsuccessful with each.
BAlfson said:There certainly is a paucity of information with instructions for installing on VMware. I downloaded the XG ISO and tried to install it in VMware Player where I've played with UTM. I tried with several different choices for the underlying OS and was unsuccessful with each.
VMWare Player runs a virtual machine. It can't create one from an ISO. You need to install the Sophos XG ISO into a full version of VMWare. Then, you can take that virtual machine and run it in VMWare Player.
I was just making sure you understood that there is also a free Home version which is a business/enterprise class version locked in a perpetual trial mode. This versions does not come in a virtual machine, but you could put it in one.
There really isn't a cross-distribution way to determine what distribution and version you're on. There have been attempts to make this consistent, but ultimately it varies, unfortunately. LSB tools provide this information, but ironically aren't installed by default everywhere. Example on an Ubuntu 9.04 system with the lsb-release package installed:
Note that many distributions have this kind of information in /etc/issue or /etc/motd, but some security policies and best practices indicate that these files should contain access notification banners.
Each Linux distribution contains a specific version of the Linux kernel and a set of tools and utilities designed to work with that kernel version. Different Linux distributions may also include different packages, libraries, and software applications.
Knowing which version of Linux is installed on a system is helpful for various reasons, including troubleshooting, ensuring compatibility with specific software applications, and simply staying up to date with the latest features and security patches.
As vulnerabilities are discovered, developers release fixes that are usually targeted to a specific version. This means you need to be careful about the patches you download and install on your machine.
If none of the above commands work for you, you are likely running an old and out-of-date Linux distribution. You can use one of the following commands to print the contents of the distribution release or version file.
A: Yes, knowing the version of Linux you are running can be important for several reasons, such as troubleshooting issues, determining software compatibility, and staying up-to-date with security patche
A: It is possible to upgrade to a newer version of Linux without losing your data, but it is important to back up your important files and data before attempting an upgrade. Reading the documentation for your specific distribution before attempting an upgrade is also recommended.
function setpaths(), as the name suggests, adds some paths to the $PATH variable for your AOSP build to run correctly. One of the paths added to $PATH, is a version of the emulator command that is packaged with AOSP.
In short, when you run $ emulator from the command line after running $ lunch, you'll be running the AOSP version of the emulator which is associated with what ever version of AOSP you're building for. (In my case it was an older version of AOSP)
In addition to the other answers, which correctly point out you need to update the emulator version in your Android Sdk, you need to make sure that you are running the emulator command from the Android Sdk path and not from the AOSP emulator path.
If you are running $ emulator from the same terminal that you built AOSP with, try running $ emulator from a new terminal. In addition, you should confirm the path of the emulator command by using $ which emulator.
I have a couple of linux users that are having issues with not being able to use CLI tools and the menus are scaling strangely in 5.2.6.
What do you folks see as the most stable release for a mixed environment that includes windows, os x, and linux clients?
When most people think of Linux, an open source operating system that serves as an alternative to Microsoft and Apple comes to mind. But unlike these market leaders that offer commercial operating systems, there is no single Linux operating system.
The family tree for Ubuntu alone contains over 65 software applications built on the basis of Ubuntu. The current distribution was released in 2020 with the version number 20.04. The first version of Ubuntu came out in 2004 and was based on the Debian operating system.
The various Linux distributions can be roughly divided into three basic family trees as well as countless other smaller branches and independent versions. For example, the entire Ubuntu family is based on Debian, the distribution Fedora is based on Red Hat Linux, and SUSE used Slackware.
With the tool Inxi, you can easily view all the information about your hardware, host, Linux kernel, desktop environment, and distribution. To install the program in Debian/Ubuntu, enter the following command into the terminal:
I have encountered cases where the /var/lib/rpm folder has restritive persmissions which impedes the rpm helper, which runs as nobody, from accessing the rpm library and prevents any rpm info being inspected. If that were the case though it would impact more than trying to get the version of a specific application.
Often times I will ssh into a new client's box to make changes to their website configuration without knowing much about the server configuration. I have seen a few ways to get information about the system you're using, but are there some standard commands to tell me what version of Unix/Linux I'm on and basic system information (like if it is a 64-bit system or not), and that sort of thing?
I believe this works for most distros, and provides a more concise answer than cat /etc/*release* and more complete answer than uname -a. However, use of /proc for things other than processes is now eschewed, so maybe it'll disappear someday.
inxi is a System Information Tool for Linux. It displays handy information concerning system hardware (hard disk, sound cards, graphic card, network cards, CPU, RAM, and more), together with system information about drivers, Xorg, desktop environment, kernel, GCC version(s), processes, uptime, memory, and a wide array of other useful information.
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