How to find out which version / release of Ubuntu you have

Eli — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:16:21 +0000

Have you ever asked yourself, “How do I find out exactly which version, or release, of Ubunut I have?” There are a few ways of doing this.

The easiest, and most basic, is to open the System Monitor.You do this by going to System > Administration > System Monitor. You then click on the System tab. There you’ll see which version of Ubuntu you’re using, along with your linux kernel, and which version of gnome you have. However, this information can be incomplete. For example, if I do this, I’m told that I have Ubuntu 8.04. Well, I do, but there’s more to it than that.

See, Ubuntu has what’s called point releases for the long term support versions of Ubuntu, which 8.04 is. Check their website here, for an explanation. So, knowing that I have Ubuntu 8.04 does not tell me which point release I have. What can I do if I want that information?? Well, that’s pretty easy too.

I have to open up a terminal. To do that I go into the Accessories menu, and choose Terminal. Then I enter this…

cat /etc/issue.net

And when I do that, I’m told that I have Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS. This let’s me know that I am using the third point release. This is what I wanted to find out.

Any other ways of doing this that you prefer???

Should you upgrade to each new release of Ubuntu?? Why ?? Why not??

Eli — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:03:46 +0000

A new version of Ubuntu is released every 6 months, and it’s very easy to upgrade. All you have to do is click a button or two in your update manager and there you have it. You’ve just gone from Ubuntu 8.04 to Ubuntu 8.10! Is this something that you should be doing?? You could upgrade every six months, or you could upgrade every 2 years. Which would you prefer?? I’ve chosen to upgrade every 2 years. Here’s why…

Stability and the length of support. I’ve chosen to stick with the Long Term Support releases. Every 2 years, an LTS version is released with 3 years of support. The current LTS version is 8.04, Hardy Heron. The standard releases, every 6 months, are supported for 18 months. I want the stability of sticking with my established version. Such reliable service from my machine is more important to me than using the latest release. The older, LTS version has had patches and/or fixes applied already, and it’ll give me few problems. However, if I were to upgrade to the newest version every 6 months, I’m bound to run into issues somewhere. I’d be sacrificing some stability. That’s the price you pay for living on the bleeding edge.

I will of course use 8.10, Intrepid Ibex. In fact, I’ve installed it on a VirtualBox virtual machine, so I can try it out while not affecting my 8.04.1 installation. I trust the fine folks who maintain Ubuntu to take care of me with patches & fixes, even when my 8.04 LTS gets to be long in the tooth, so I won’t be upgrading until version 10.04 LTS. Ubuntu’s site explains all of this here.

Another interesting bit of info that might affect your decision is found here. Is Ubuntu getting slower with each new release??

So, what are your plans for upgrading?? Why are you?? Why aren’t you??

How To Ubuntu » release

How to find out which version / release of Ubuntu you have

Should you upgrade to each new release of Ubuntu?? Why ?? Why not??