21 replies to this topic

[réjean]

Hi all!
My wife told me that her sister has a newer machine that came with Linux and that I could help her.
Where should I start? I thought about running the same thing in Vbox or VMWare or if I have an old live CD but how do we find out what she is running. Right now, I know how to find it in PCLinuxOS Gnome but here in OpenSUSE ( Gnome also ) I don't have a clue. I'll check in Mageia and in PCLinuxOS Phoenix but is there a terminal command that she could use?

Edited by réjean, 03 March 2012 - 02:05 PM.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

CODE

$ cat /etc/*version

This will work with some distributions.

If she's done nothing to the computer, just the boot up menu or login screen will most likely say whatever GNU/Linux it is... Ubuntu, Mint, etc.

[réjean]

CODE

$ cat /etc/*version

This will work with some distributions.

If she's done nothing to the computer, just the boot up menu or login screen will most likely say whatever GNU/Linux it is... Ubuntu, Mint, etc.

I'll see when we start emailing but like you say I figure that she could at least tell me that much and then I can try your command which doesn't work here in OpenSuSE.
I figure there is a very good chance that she'll have a Ubuntu or Kubuntu and I have found a good tutorial if it is the case.
starting here

[securitybreach]

Try this instead:

CODE

cat /etc/issue

[réjean]

Works well here in Mageia;

CODE

[rejean@localhost ~]$ cat /etc/issue
Mageia release 1 (Official) for i586
Kernel 2.6.38.8-desktop-10.mga on a Dual-processor i686 / \l
[rejean@localhost ~]$

Thanks Josh. It is a lot simpler than looking into the Help->About, which sometimes tell me the Nautilus version, other times the Gnome.

Here in PCLinux;

CODE

[rejean@localhost ~]$ cat /etc/issue
ZEN-mini release 2011 (PCLinuxOS) for i586
Kernel 2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs on a Dual-processor i686 / \l

and I found another hidden in some of my notes;

CODE

[rejean@localhost ~]$ cat /etc/*-release
LSB_VERSION=lsb-3.1-ia32:lsb-3.1-noarch
DISTRIB_ID=ZEN-mini
DISTRIB_RELEASE=
DISTRIB_CODENAME=
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="ZEN-mini"
ZEN-mini release 2011 (PCLinuxOS) for i586
ZEN-mini release 2011 (PCLinuxOS) for i586
ZEN-mini release 2011 (PCLinuxOS) for i586
ZEN-mini release 2011 (PCLinuxOS) for i586
ZEN-mini release 2011 (PCLinuxOS) for i586
[rejean@localhost ~]$

which might be more what Eric had in mind.

Edited by réjean, 03 March 2012 - 03:47 PM.

[securitybreach]

Yup that one works too:

CODE

╔═ comhack@Cerberus 02:03 PM
╚═══ ~-> cat /etc/*-release
Arch Linux release
DISTRIB_ID=archlinux
DISTRIB_RELEASE=rolling
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Arch Linux"

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I had forgotten about "issue" and "*release". I'm so used to using "*version" in Slackware-based distros.

[réjean]

As long as my sister-in-law can tell me what she is using it's fine with me. In the meantime;

CODE

rejean@linux-e31f4vl9m:~> cat /etc/issue
Welcome to openSUSE 12.1 "Asparagus" - Kernel \r (\l)..
rejean@linux-e31f4vl9m:~> cat /etc/*-release
NAME=openSUSE
VERSION = 12.1 (Asparagus)
VERSION_ID="12.1"
PRETTY_NAME="openSUSE 12.1 (Asparagus) (x86_64)"
ID=opensuse
openSUSE 12.1 (x86_64)
VERSION = 12.1
CODENAME = Asparagus

I like the code name since we do grow asparagus ourselves.

Edited by réjean, 03 March 2012 - 07:25 PM.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

YUCK! Asparagus.  

[striker]

And you really eat those things? Really? That'll get you to the can every 15 minutes or so for the next two hours to come...

[réjean]

You may be thinking of canned asparagus but if you had a chance to taste some fresh, organic ones sauteed in butter for no more than a minute then dusted over with parmesan cheese and grilled for another few minutes you would think differently.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

You may be thinking of canned asparagus but if you had a chance to taste some fresh, organic ones sauteed in butter for no more than a minute then dusted over with parmesan cheese and grilled for another few minutes you would think differently.

That almost sound tasty.

[zlim]

Smacking my lips. I call dibs on striker's and Eric's unwanted asparagus because I love it. The season is so short so it isn't a veggie I eat much of.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

You go, girl! You're welcome to my share. I'll stick to broccoli and cauliflower.

[zlim]

About the only veggie I rarely eat is Brussels sprouts because I'm gassy the rest of the day. Iy just doesn't like me. My late roommate sauteed some Brussel sprouts in garlic butter and I ate 3 helpings!!! Saute anything in garlic butter and I'll probably eat it.
So how did we get from an unknown linux distro to a discussion of veggies?

[Eggdog]

Asparagus ROCKS! We have a small patch that's been serving us well, no pun intended, for ten years. We eat what we can and freeze the rest.

[abarbarian]

So how did we get from an unknown linux distro to a discussion of veggies?

blame the anarchist  

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Sure. It's always the poor anarchist who gets blamed.

[abarbarian]

YUCK! Asparagus.  

The internet never lies  

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Has to be true. I saw it on YouTube.

[striker]

About the only veggie I rarely eat is Brussels sprouts because I'm gassy the rest of the day. Iy just doesn't like me. My late roommate sauteed some Brussel sprouts in garlic butter and I ate 3 helpings!!! Saute anything in garlic butter and I'll probably eat it.
So how did we get from an unknown linux distro to a discussion of veggies?

When you cook those sprouts cook 'm with some little onion parts in it, that'll take out the gas.

[sunrat]

The internet never lies  

From xkcd.com