Find Out the Package Version with DPKG and RPM

In this short article I will show you how to find out the version of a package with dpkg and rpm, on the most used Linux Distros.

For Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, PuppyOS, Knoppix:

Syntax: dpkg -s {package_name}

$ dpkg -s vim | grep -i ^version Version: 2:7.3.154+hg~74503f6ee649-2ubuntu3.1

$ dpkg -s firefox | grep -i ^version Version: 7.0.1+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu2

For Fedora, CentOS, openSUSE, Mandriva:

Syntax: rpm -q {package_name}

$ rpm -q firefox firefox-7.0.1-1.fc16.x86_64

$ rpm -q gedit gedit-3.2.1-1.fc16.x86_64

I have tested this commands in Linux Mint and Fedora.