LSB_RELEASE(1)

💅 NAME 💅

okay so bestie, welcome to the LSB_RELEASE(1) era — this is the manual page for lsb_release v3.3, brought to you by the fine people at FSG. she prints your LSB (Linux Standard Base) and distro info and honestly? she ate. let's get into it 💖

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

lsb_release [OPTION]...

that's it. that's the whole vibe. options only, no positional drama 🎀

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

lsb_release v3.3 prints certain LSB (Linux Standard Base) and Distribution information. like, that's her whole job and she's iconic for it 👑

if you pass no OPTION at all? she defaults to -v. no notes, that's just what she does 🦋

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🫶 OPTIONS 🫶

• -v, --version — shows you the version of the LSB specification that your distribution is compliant with. the receipts, basically 📜
• -i, --id — prints the string id of the distributor. who made you 💜
• -d, --description — prints the single line text description of the distribution. one (1) line, she's concise 💅
• -r, --release — prints the release number of the distribution 🔢
• -c, --codename — prints the codename according to the distribution release. yes she has a government name and a cute name 🌸
• -a, --all — prints all of the above. the full info dump, the whole menu 🔥
• -s, --short — uses the short output format for the info requested by the other options (or version if none were given). less yapping, same facts ✨
• -h, --help — displays this message. the classic 🙈

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🎀 FILES 🎀

if your installation is LSB compliant, the /etc/lsb-release file should contain the LSB_VERSION field. the value of that field should be a colon separated list of supported module versions, and those indicate the LSB specification modules your installation is compliant with. if the installation is not compliant, that field should not be present. periodt 🚫

the optional fields are DISTRIB_ID, DISTRIB_RELEASE, DISTRIB_CODENAME, DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION, and they can be used to override information that gets parsed from the /etc/os-release file. but listen — since /etc/os-release is the new standard, there is no need anymore to add any of those optional fields to /etc/lsb-release. she's moved on, and honestly? growth 💅

if the /etc/lsb-release.d directory exists, it is searched for filenames, and those filenames are taken as additional module-version strings to add to LSB_VERSION. little bonus content folder 🗂️

the required line style is:

"Distributor release x.x (Codename)"

where Distributor can be a couple of words, but then they get concatenated (i.e. Linux Foo BarLinux Linux -> FooBarLinux), x.x starts with a digit followed by any non-blank characters, and Codename will also be concatenated (blanks cleanup only). so like, no spaces allowed, the spaces get yeeted 🧹

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

say the /etc/lsb-release file contains:

LSB_VERSION="core-2.0-ia64:core-2.0-noarch"
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="I enjoy using my distrib"

and the /etc/lsb-release.d directory contains:

graphics-2.0-ia64    graphics-2.0-noarch

and the /etc/os-release file contains:

NAME="SLES"
VERSION="12-SP2"
VERSION_ID="12.2"
PRETTY_NAME="SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2"
ID="sles"

then the results of various options will be:

$ ./lsb_release --all
LSB Version:
core-2.0-ia64:core-2.0-noarch:graphics-2.0-ia64:graphics-2.0-noarch
Distributor ID: SUSE
Description:    I enjoy using my distrib
Release:        12.2
Codename:       n/a

$ ./lsb_release -a -s
1.0 SUSE "I enjoy using my distrib" 12.2 n/a

and if the /etc/lsb-release file is absent (which indicates this is not an LSB compliant distribution), the result will be:

$ ./lsb_release -a
LSB Version:    n/a
Distributor ID: SUSE
Description:    SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2
Release:        12.2
Codename:       n/a

see how she pulls the description straight from /etc/os-release when there's nothing to override it? chef's kiss 👩🍳💋

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

Copyright © 2000, 2002, 2004 Free Standards Group, Inc. Copyright © 2017 SUSE Linux GmbH Copyright © 2022 SUSE Software Solutions Germany GmbH Copyright © 2021, 2023 Neal Gompa

this is free software; see the source for copying conditions. there is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. so like, don't come for her if something breaks, bestie 😭

originally written by Dominique MASSONIE. legend behaviour, fr fr 🫶

no cap, all the legal stuff above is real and you should read it — no warranty means no warranty, i don't make the rules 💀

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that's the whole page, babe. lsb_release v3.3, page LSB_RELEASE(1), dated November 2023 — go check your distro's vibe and slay 💖✨🦋