DOKK / manpages / debian 13 / linux-base / linux-version.1.en
LINUX-VERSION(1) General Commands Manual LINUX-VERSION(1)

linux-version - operate on Linux kernel version strings

linux-version compare KERNEL-VER-1 OP KERNEL-VER-2

linux-version sort [--reverse] [KERNEL-VER-1 KERNEL-VER-2 ...]

linux-version list [--paths]

linux-version operates on Linux kernel version strings as reported by uname -r and used in file and directory names. These version strings do not follow the same rules as Debian package version strings and should not be compared as such or as arbitrary strings.

Compare version strings, where OP is a binary operator. linux-version returns success (zero result) if the specified condition is satisfied, and failure (nonzero result) otherwise. The valid operators are: lt le eq ne ge gt
Sort the given version strings and print them in order from lowest to highest. If the --reverse option is used, print them in order from highest to lowest.

If no version strings are given as arguments, the version strings will instead be read from standard input, one per line. They may be suffixed by arbitrary text after a space, which will be included in the output. This means that, for example:

linux-version list --paths | linux-version sort --reverse

will list the installed versions and corresponding paths in order from highest to lowest version.

List kernel versions installed in the customary location. If the --paths option, show the corresponding path for each version.

linux-version and this manual page were written by Ben Hutchings as part of the Debian linux-base package.

30 March 2011