/etc/lsb-release vs /etc/os-release

Question

I needed to find out what Linux distro I'm running by using bash. Found this page, which was very helpful.

However my system has two /etc/*-release files

/etc/lsb-release
/etc/os-release

It seems os-release has a little more info, but it looks that both of these files essentially do the same thing. Does anyone know what is the difference between them? While we are at it, what does lsb in lsb-release stand for?

Answer 1

The /etc/lsb-release file is a file that some, but not all, Linux distributions put there for older programs to use. The "lsb" refers to the Linux Standard Base, a project working to define a common set of standards for any Linux distribution to follow, including things like filesystem layout. However, that file, /etc/lsb-release, isn't part of the standard. It's an extra thing that some distributions use, but not all.

The /etc/os-release file is the standard, however. Any distribution based on systemd, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Fedora, Gentoo, Debian, Mint, Ubuntu, and many others, is required to have that file. Distributions that don't use systemd may also have the file.

If you need a reliable way of detecting what distribution you're running on, your best bet will be to read the /etc/os-release file. If it's not there you can try running the program called lsb_release. But just ignore the /etc/lsb-release file.

You can read more about os-release here and here. And just for fun, take a look at all the different files that Linux distributions used to use!