I have always found it difficult to find information about the system itself in Unix, whether it beWhich OS I am using (version number and all, to compare it with the latest available builds)?Which Desktop Environment am I using? If I am using KDE, most of the programs begin with a K and I can say I am using KDE, but there should be some way to query this, say from a script.Which kernel version am I using? (For example, I am using Fedora, and I want to know what Linux kernel version I am using)Basically, what I miss is a single point/utility that can get all this information for me. Most of the times the solutions to the above would themselves be OS specific. Then, you are stuck.
How to find information about the system/machine in Unix?
kernel;desktop environment;system information
In addition to uname -a, which gives you the kernel version, you can try:lsb_release -idrc  # distro, version, codename, long release nameMost Desktop Environments like GNOME or KDE have an about or info menu option that will tell you what you use currently, so no commandline needed there really.