title: Detecting Linux distribution/platform in Ruby
body: <p>I can check the operating system of the platform that is running my Ruby code in a several ways:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><code>RUBY_PLATFORM</code>: <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/a/171011/462015">https://stackoverflow.com/a/171011/462015</a></li>
  <li><code>RbConfig::CONFIG['host_os']</code>: <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/a/13586108/462015">https://stackoverflow.com/a/13586108/462015</a></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Is it possible to know what Linux distribution is running? For example a Debian based or a Red Hat based distribution.</p>