No easy (GUI) place to get current ubuntu version from

[Sitsofe Wheeler]

I was recently asked what version of Ubuntu I was running. I went to check System -> About Ubuntu but those turned out to be help pages. I tried looking for a /etc/ubuntu_version file but the only thing I found was /etc/debian_version which said testing/unstable . System -> About GNOME was also unhelpful. The only thing that give you a clue is System -> Administration -> Update Manager then clicking the Preferences button.

It is surprisingly hard to find out what version of ubuntu one is using from the GUI. Perhaps this is because there is no guarantee that you are running all the parts required to match a particular version?

[Trent Lloyd (lathiat)]

I'm not sure about the GUI, but just to let you know you can use the 'lsb_release' command to get this information

lathiat@qaplaH:~$ lsb_release -a
LSB Version: n/a
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu (The Breezy Badger Release)
Release: 5.10
Codename: breezy

If 'About Ubuntu' does not provide this information then your right, it should probably be there or something.

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

Thanks for informing be about the lsb_release Trent.

Upon further inspection on the third page of the About Ubuntu help (Core Components) the first line says:

"The default desktop environment for Ubuntu 5.10 is GNOME".

So again, I stand corrected. This information is there but I feel it should be easier to find (I would have expected this information of the first page "About Ubuntu".

[Matthew East (mdke)]

About Ubuntu will be radically reworked for the next release and we will try and ensure that this problem will get fixed, if ubuntu-doc is still responsible for the document.

[Jonathan Jesse (jjesse)]

Note for Kubuntu Docs we will make the same changes to follow ubuntu-docs

[Jerome S. Gotangco (jsgotangco)]

The spec for About Ubuntu planned for Dapper is located here:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AboutUbuntu

It's possible that the current About Ubuntu text will be retained in the browser but make it much shorter to avoid scrolling.

[Michael Vogt (mvo)]

When I click on "Systen/About ubuntu" I get:
"""
Thank you for your interest in Ubuntu 6.06 - the Dapper Drake - released in June 2006.
"""

In the first line of the body. Is this what you want?

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

It's definitely close enough. I am thinking from this from the perspective of someone trying to guide someone else to tell me which version of Ubuntu they are using:

"Can you go to System -> About Ubuntu and tell me what the version of Ubuntu you are using is (it should be beneath the Ubuntu logo)."

Shall we resolve this Fix Released?

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

I'm happy to resolve this fixed (edgy has the same behavior that Michael described)

[Andy Price (andy-price)]

Closing as fixed as per previous comment