LSB_RELEASE(1)

📦
version 12.1 · 11 versions
, in ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 LSB_RELEASE(1) 💖

user commands, bestie — and it's the cutest little one, fr fr 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

lsb_release — print distribution-specific information (minimal implementation). yes it's minimal, no it's not lazy, it's called efficiency 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

lsb_release [options]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so. this is a bare-bones version of the lsb_release command, and when i say bare-bones i mean it's literally a tiny POSIX shell script. like, less than 100 lines of commented code. that's the whole thing. slay.

instead of doing the whole LSB packages thing, this version just reads its info from /etc/os-release and /usr/lib/os-release. and here's the iconic part — even though it's doing something completely different under the hood, the output is byte-for-byte compatible with the Python-based version provided by Debian and its derivatives. no cap. 🫶

so what does that mean for you? it means you can keep a base OS image Python-free (gasp, i know, stunning) while still keeping compatibility with all those older scripts that expect lsb_release to just... exist. she's adaptable. she's lowkey a legend. 👑

💅 OPTIONS 💅

the program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options starting with two dashes (--). a summary of options are included below.

  • -h, --help — show a help message with a list of options and exit. the "hi bestie here's what i do" moment 🥰
  • -v, --version — show LSB modules this system supports.
  • -i, --id — show distributor ID.
  • -d, --description — show description of this distribution.
  • -r, --release — show release number of this distribution.
  • -c, --codename — show code name of this distribution.
  • -a, --all — show all of the above information. the "just give me everything" option, respect it
  • -s, --short — show requested information in short format. no yapping, just vibes ✨

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /usr/lib/os-release — distribution-provided file with operating system identification data.
  • /etc/os-release — machine-specific file with operating system identification data. if present, /etc/os-release is read instead of /usr/lib/os-release.
ok so important: it's not a merge situation, it's a pick one situation. /etc/os-release walks in and /usr/lib/os-release is out. 🙈

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Gioele Barabucci <https://gioele.io>

💜 LICENSE 💜

this implementation of lsb_release is free software released under the terms of the ISC license. free software!! we love to see it!!

and that's the whole page bestie 💖 this was lsb_release version 12.1, dated 2025-12-18, and you found her under LSB_RELEASE(1) — go forth and query your distro, you've got this 🦋✨

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