Ivan, To answer your question, yes this has been discussed before. :-) I have referenced them below. Your review and input is welcome. LSB team, Could someone please volunteer to take task 16692 "Linux Version & Distribution identification" and document this in the FAQ and written specification. https://sourceforge.net/pm/task.php?func=detailtask&project_task_id=16692&group_id=1107&group_project_id=3049 Thanks, George (gk4)