Why do I get contradicting Ubuntu versions?

Question

I'm running Ubuntu 12.04.*

I'd like to know what point release of 12.04 I'm running (the star). I read the information about LTSEnablementStack and it seems 12.04 has point releases 12.04.0, 12.04.1, 12.04.2, 12.04.3, 12.04.4, 12.04.5 which might differ as much as running a different kernel and xorg server.

I wanted to find out my exact version and the problem is that I get contradictory information.

using lsb_release -a yields 12.04.5

root@box:~# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS
Release:    12.04
Codename:   precise

looking at cat /etc/apt/sources.list says 12.04.1

root@box:~# cat /etc/apt/sources.list | grep cdrom
# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Release i386 (20120817.3)]/ precise main restricted

checking the creation date of my root filesystem (to confirm my memmory that I installed that box somewhere in September 2012 (long before 12.04.5) indicates 12.04.1

root@box:~# dumpe2fs /dev/mapper/root    -h  | grep created
Filesystem created:       Fri Sep 21 12:56:19 2012

the GUI is of no help at all and says 12.04 only:

So what point release am I running and why do I see this contradictory information? My kernel is a 3.2 version, which is yet not helping my understanding of the Hardware Enablement Stack Policies and Procedures. Can it be that I had 12.04.1 and accidently changed to 12.04.5? (is this even possible?, yet why do I still run a 3.2 kernel even after apt-get dist-upgrade?) Or is only lsb_release -a broken and I should file a bug?

Answer 1

Let's break-down your issue into two parts:

1. Your current Ubuntu version from the output of /etc/apt/sources.list

2. Your current Ubuntu version from the output of everything else.

Now, to the explanation:

1. From Ubuntu.

   The only lines that gets upgraded in that file are the lines that starts with deb, deb-src, #deb or #deb-src because

   Ubuntu uses apt for package management. Apt stores a list of repositories or software channels in the file.

   If there are any other lines in the file that are uncommented and doesn't start with deb, etc. then the command sudo apt-get update will produce errors.

   But the main part relevant to you is that the file doesn't get updated as a whole but the lines in them that are stated above. So, the file is basically the same one as the time when you installed Ubuntu and to make it more clear you installed Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS to start with and upgraded your way to 12.04.5 LTS.

2. Now, for the second part,

   From lsb-release --help:

   -v, --version      show LSB modules this system supports
   -u, --upstream     show upstream LSB data
   -i, --id           show distributor ID
   -d, --description  show description of this distribution
   -r, --release      show release number of this distribution
   -c, --codename     show code name of this distribution
   -a, --all          show all of the above information
   

   i.e., the command lsb_release -a gives you the exact information as to what your current version of Ubuntu is.

Also about your other question regarding kernels, the latest kernel that is available for Precise is 3.13.*. So, everything's fine with your Ubuntu. But on another note if you want to install the more latest kernels on your current version then you might want to follow this YouTube.

EDIT: As Pilot6 pointed out and from Ubuntu Wiki in 12.04.x Ubuntu Kernel Support section:

It seems that 12.04.5 has kernel version 3.13.*.

Answer 2

You are using Ubuntu 12.04.5. It is updated 12.04 release.

But HWE Stack including kernels and X.org is not updated automatically.

I see no problems or bugs that can be reported.

Answer 3

I had the same query when I had updated some systems installed with the 14.04.1 installation medium, that had been updated to 14.04.3 without pushing the kernel onto one of the HWE releases.

The thing that made sense of it in my mind is that the installation medium (CD release) for 12.04.5 will use the Trusty HWE kernel (3.13.xx) by default. 12.04.5 as a release, just refers to having all of your packages upgraded to a certain point.

The kernel version is not explicitly tied to the point release.

So it's fine to have a 12.04.5 release of Ubuntu, which uses the original kernel for 12.04. Having a look at the Kernel Support Schedule is also informative, and helped my comprehension greatly.

Answer 4

Short answer: lsb_release -a , /etc/os-release, and /etc/lsb-release will tell you exact info.

Don't look at # deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Release i386 (20120817.3)]/ precise main restricted because that refers to the media that you originally used to install the OS, which cointains packages for 12.04.1.

In fact , don't look at /etc/apt/sources.list at all. It can be butchered as you please , and contain sources from releases that are not even supported anymore, or versions newer than that. Example, my /etc/apt/sources.list has deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise main universe line even though I run trusty.

Answer 5

Ubuntu systems, and GNU/Linux systems in general, are more modular than monolithic. As a rule, you may pick-and-choose package versions as long as they are all built for the same distribution (in your case, "precise", or 12.04).

The point release is basically determined by the version of the base-files package that is installed. The point release number serves as a general indicator of how up-to-date your packages are, but it's impossible to summarize the entire state of your system in one number.

From time to time, as software updates get applied, your base-files package will get upgraded too, and hence the point release number that describes your system will get bumped up too. These version number bumps are not a big deal, and there isn't much you should do to prevent them. They merely indicate that a larger-than-usual batch of package updates has been pushed out by Canonical, and that they decided to publish revised DVD images for those checkpoints.

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The line that you found in sources.list:

# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Release i386 (20120817.3)]/ precise main restricted

… is irrelevant. First of all, the # character means that that line is commented out, and has no effect. Second, I assume that you also have some entries in your sources.list pointing to an HTTP repository. Those repositories on the network would carry packages that are more up-to-date than whatever was on your installation CD, so the package updater would prefer the newer packages.

So, you initially installed your system using the 12.04.1 CD/DVD. But all that is in the past. Regular package updates have brought you up to 12.04.5 now, as if you had installed your system using the 12.04.5 media.

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To summarize:

• You are running some version of 12.04. That won't change unless you make a deliberate effort to upgrade to the next release (e.g. 14.04).
• More specifically, you can claim that your OS has been updated to 12.04.5, as indicated by lsb_release.
• The differences between 12.04.1, 12.04.2, 12.04.3, etc. are pretty insignificant, and not something worth fussing over.
• You can elect not to upgrade some of your packages to the latest available, and that's OK.

Answer 6

You can find out exactly which version Ubuntu version you are using by typing

cat /etc/issue

or with the command

lsb_release -a

as indicated by other answers (you need to install it first, as it doesn't come with Ubuntu by default)