distro
Distro - an OS platform information API
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Distro is a stable, zero-dependency library addressing a real need created by Python's removal of `platform.linux_distribution()`. It has active maintenance, no known vulnerabilities, permissive licensing, and is in the top 1000 PyPI packages by download volume. Install it if you need to detect or report the Linux/BSD distribution your code runs on.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.6+; designed for Linux and BSD systems (Windows and OS X support planned but not yet implemented).
- Low install friction; pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies.
- Active maintenance with last commit 2026-07-22 and stable production status.
License · maintenance · safety
Apache License, Version 2.0 (permissive) — Apache License 2.0 (permissive); safe to use in proprietary and open-source projects without copyleft obligations.
last release 2023-12-24 (964 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-22 · 281 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 417,850,387 downloads/mo, #101 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install distro
import distro
print(distro.name(pretty=True))
print(distro.id())
print(distro.version(best=True))- Whether Windows and OS X support has been added since the description excerpt was written.
- Current test coverage across the Linux distributions listed in the repository.
What it is and what it does
Distro is a lightweight Python library that queries your operating system to retrieve reliable, machine-readable information about the Linux or BSD distribution running on the host—such as the distribution name, version, codename, and release details. It was created as a direct replacement for Python's `platform.linux_distribution()` function, which was deprecated in Python 3.5 and removed entirely in Python 3.8. The library works by checking multiple data sources in order of precedence: `/etc/os-release`, the `lsb_release` command, distro release files, and `uname` for BSD systems.
You use distro when you need to programmatically detect what Linux or BSD distribution your code is running on—for example, in system administration tools, deployment scripts, or applications that need to adapt behavior based on the host OS. It has no runtime dependencies, installs as a pure Python wheel, and can even be vendored directly into projects that want to avoid adding a dependency. The package is actively maintained, tested against Python 3.6 through 3.12, and widely used in infrastructure and configuration management tools.
Use it for
- Detect the host Linux distribution in deployment or provisioning scripts to apply distribution-specific configuration.
- Adapt application behavior at runtime based on whether it's running on CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian, or another distribution.
- Replace deprecated `platform.linux_distribution()` calls in legacy Python code migrating to Python 3.8+.
- Build system administration tools that need reliable OS identification across heterogeneous Linux and BSD environments.
- Query OS details from the command line using the standalone `distro` CLI tool for shell scripts.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Distro is a stable, zero-dependency library addressing a real need created by Python's removal of `platform.linux_distribution()`. It has active maintenance, no known vulnerabilities, permissive licensing, and is in the top 1000 PyPI packages by download volume. Install it if you need to detect or report the Linux/BSD distribution your code runs on.
Install
distro on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction; pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies. Active maintenance with last commit 2026-07-22 and stable production status.
Requires Python 3.6+; designed for Linux and BSD systems (Windows and OS X support planned but not yet implemented).
License in practice
Apache License 2.0 (permissive); safe to use in proprietary and open-source projects without copyleft obligations.
Quickstart
pip install distro
import distro
print(distro.name(pretty=True))
print(distro.id())
print(distro.version(best=True))Verify before relying
- Whether Windows and OS X support has been added since the description excerpt was written.
- Current test coverage across the Linux distributions listed in the repository.
Package facts
| License | Apache License, Version 2.0 permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.6 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 964 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 417,850,387 / month, #101 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: System AdministratorsLicense :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software LicenseOperating System :: POSIX :: BSDOperating System :: POSIX :: BSD :: FreeBSDOperating System :: POSIX :: BSD :: NetBSDOperating System :: POSIX :: BSD :: OpenBSDOperating System :: POSIX :: LinuxProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.6Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTopic :: System :: Operating System |
Evidence: distro-1.9.0-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “distro name and version”
- distroDistro provides a reliable, machine-readable API to query the Linux…
- iterative-telemetrySends anonymized telemetry data from Iterative tools, collecting…
- ramp-packerBundles Redis modules into distributable packages with metadata,…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Python Modules packages
Converts domain names between Unicode and ASCII-compatible encoding (Punycode) according to IDNA 2008 and Unicode Technical Standard 46, with security validation and broader script coverage than the standard library.
Install it if you work with internationalized domain names, need to validate domains, or use HTTP clients that depend on it transitively.
Setuptools is a Python build backend and package management tool that handles building, distributing, and installing Python packages, including support for C/C++ extension modules.
PyYAML parses and emits YAML 1.1 data format, enabling serialization and deserialization of configuration files and Python objects to and from human-readable YAML text.
Pydantic validates Python data structures against type hints, coercing and checking input at runtime to ensure it matches a declared schema.
Provides reusable metadata objects for use with PEP-593 `typing.Annotated` to express common constraints like bounds, collection sizes, and predicates on types.
Install it if you use or build libraries that need to express type constraints in a standardized, inspectable way—or if you want to annotate your own types with…
Provides runtime tools to inspect and introspect Python type annotations, enabling programmatic examination of type hints at execution time.
See also extra-platforms · bindep · distro2sbom · opentelemetry-container-distro · certifi-linux · pkginfo · aws-opentelemetry-distro · abxpkg · distlib · napalm