OS Edition Name

For when you are wanting to add a specific, custom apt sources list item (because its best to have custom items in their own, specific .list file) and the string asks for the Ubuntu/Debian Edition Name (Xenial, Jessie, etc.), you are able to run commands within the echo line.

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc)-getdeb apps" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/getdeb.list'

Lets break that down:

sudo sh -c

When you use this specific starting command, and then wrap everything after in apostrophes, it “sudos” that entire block of commands. This is awesome for when you’re wanting to redirect with > or >> to a file or location that requires sudo.

$(lsb_release -sc)

  1. lsb_release- this prints distribution-specific info

  2. -sc- the -s is “short”, the -c is “codename”

So, almost all apt sources addresses have the distribution’s code name as one of the options, so using this really helps out in programatic coding.