Knowing your linux release

Knowing what operating system and what is the release number are the basic of using any operating system. This information is usually stored in the /etc/ folder in linux. To view it you can type:

For Ubuntu:
cat /etc/lsb-release

For Redhat:
cat /etc/redhat-release

For SuSE:
cat /etc/SuSE-release

This line will be displayed(for Ubuntu):

DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=6.10
DISTRIB_CODENAME=edgy
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 6.10"

If you are not sure which file points to this info, you can go to the /etc file, and type:
ls *release
then:
cat lsb-release