I am trying to write a script which works based on the knowledge that each Linux Mint release was based on a particular Ubuntu release.
However, I do not want to install Linux Mint to verify that, but instead let the users of the script test it, if they need it.
Can I rely on the presence of /etc/debian_version, though? I am doing this in order to detect Debian and its derivatives. It works reliably on Debian and Ubuntu, but does Linux Mint have this file?
Note: I am aware of lsb_release and I am using that in order to figure out more details later on. But the existence of /etc/debian_version is a way to make assumptions about certain things before even checking for and invoking lsb_release.
Answers:
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Method 1
As mentioned in @kirill-a’s answer, /etc/debian_version should be present in any Debian derivative.
Another useful approach to find out information on the current Debian-based distribution and its “ancestry” is dpkg-vendor; for instance,
dpkg-vendor --derives-from Debian
should succeed on any Debian derivative (and on Debian itself),
dpkg-vendor --derives-from Ubuntu
should succeed on any Ubuntu derivative (and on Ubuntu itself), etc. A distribution is considered a derivative of itself as well as of its parents, so Ubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu and of Debian.
dpkg-vendor is shipped in dpkg-dev so that needs to be installed for the command to be available, which reduces the usefulness somewhat.
Method 2
Yes, as in any Ubuntu derivative, this file is present.
Method 3
I’m running Mint 19
$ lsb_release -d Description: Linux Mint 19 Tara $uname -a Linux mymc 4.15.0-20-generic #21-Ubuntu SMP ... $ cat /etc/debian_version buster/sid
This: cat /etc/debian_version | grep -o '[0-9]'| head -1|sed -e 's/ //'
should tell you what version of debian is used, but mint obscured it.
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