Index: Misc/NEWS
===================================================================
--- Misc/NEWS	(revision 60977)
+++ Misc/NEWS	(working copy)
@@ -434,6 +434,8 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #1322: platform.dist() has unpredictable result under Linux
+
 - Issue 1781: ConfigParser now does not let you add the "default" section
   (ignore-case)
 
Index: Doc/library/platform.rst
===================================================================
--- Doc/library/platform.rst	(revision 60977)
+++ Doc/library/platform.rst	(working copy)
@@ -230,13 +230,21 @@
 --------------
 
 
-.. function:: dist(distname='', version='', id='', supported_dists=('SuSE','debian','redhat','mandrake'))
+.. function:: dist(distname='', version='', id='')
+
+   Deprecated by *linux_distribution*. Exist to maintain backwards compatibility.
 
    Tries to determine the name of the OS distribution name Returns a tuple
    ``(distname, version, id)`` which defaults to the args given as parameters.
 
-.. XXX Document linux_distribution()?
+.. function:: linux_distribution(distname='', version='', id='')
+
+   Tries to determine the name of the OS distribution name Returns a tuple
+   ``(distname, version, id)`` which defaults to the args given as parameters.
 
+   The function first looks for a *lsb-release* file in /etc and then reverts to
+   use distribution specific files in case no suitable files are found. And 
+   *lsb-release* have higher priority if both files exists.
 
 .. function:: libc_ver(executable=sys.executable, lib='', version='', chunksize=2048)
 
Index: Lib/platform.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/platform.py	(revision 60977)
+++ Lib/platform.py	(working copy)
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 #
 #    <see CVS and SVN checkin messages for history>
 #
+#    1.0.7 - fixed dist() unpredictable result
 #    1.0.6 - added linux_distribution()
 #    1.0.5 - fixed Java support to allow running the module on Jython
 #    1.0.4 - added IronPython support
@@ -110,9 +111,16 @@
 
 """
 
-__version__ = '1.0.6'
+__version__ = '1.0.7'
 
-import sys,string,os,re
+import sys
+import os
+import re
+
+_release_filename = re.compile( r'(\w+)[-_](release|version)' )
+_release_version = re.compile( r'(.*)\s+release\s+(.*)\s+\((.*)\)\s+(.*)' )
+_lsb_variable = re.compile( r'(\w+)=(.*)' )
+_ETC_DIR = '/etc'
 
 ### Platform specific APIs
 
@@ -186,30 +194,31 @@
     """
     if os.path.exists('/var/adm/inst-log/info'):
         # SuSE Linux stores distribution information in that file
-        info = open('/var/adm/inst-log/info').readlines()
-        distname = 'SuSE'
-        for line in info:
-            tv = string.split(line)
-            if len(tv) == 2:
-                tag,value = tv
-            else:
-                continue
-            if tag == 'MIN_DIST_VERSION':
-                version = string.strip(value)
-            elif tag == 'DIST_IDENT':
-                values = string.split(value,'-')
-                id = values[2]
-        return distname,version,id
+	with open('/var/adm/inst-log/info') as fp:
+            distname = 'SuSE'
+            for line in fp:
+                tv = line.split()
+                if len(tv) == 2:
+                    tag,value = tv
+                else:
+                    continue
+                if tag == 'MIN_DIST_VERSION':
+                    version = value.strip()
+                elif tag == 'DIST_IDENT':
+                    values = value.split('-')
+                    id = values[2]
+            return distname,version,id
 
-    if os.path.exists('/etc/.installed'):
+    installed = os.path.join(_ETC_DIR, '.installed')
+    if os.path.exists(installed):
         # Caldera OpenLinux has some infos in that file (thanks to Colin Kong)
-        info = open('/etc/.installed').readlines()
-        for line in info:
-            pkg = string.split(line,'-')
-            if len(pkg) >= 2 and pkg[0] == 'OpenLinux':
-                # XXX does Caldera support non Intel platforms ? If yes,
-                #     where can we find the needed id ?
-                return 'OpenLinux',pkg[1],id
+	with open(installed) as fp:
+            for line in fp:
+                pkg = line.split('-')
+                if len(pkg) >= 2 and pkg[0] == 'OpenLinux':
+                    # XXX does Caldera support non Intel platforms ? If yes,
+                    #     where can we find the needed id ?
+                    return 'OpenLinux',pkg[1],id
 
     if os.path.isdir('/usr/lib/setup'):
         # Check for slackware verson tag file (thanks to Greg Andruk)
@@ -258,7 +267,7 @@
         return tuple(m.groups())
 
     # Unkown format... take the first two words
-    l = string.split(string.strip(firstline))
+    l = firstline.strip().split()
     if l:
         version = l[0]
         if len(l) > 1:
@@ -285,10 +294,7 @@
         if parsed != output:
             print (input, parsed)
 
-def linux_distribution(distname='', version='', id='',
-
-                       supported_dists=_supported_dists,
-                       full_distribution_name=1):
+def linux_distribution(distname='', version='', id=''):
 
     """ Tries to determine the name of the Linux OS distribution name.
 
@@ -296,54 +302,82 @@
         /etc and then reverts to _dist_try_harder() in case no
         suitable files are found.
 
-        supported_dists may be given to define the set of Linux
-        distributions to look for. It defaults to a list of currently
-        supported Linux distributions identified by their release file
-        name.
-
-        If full_distribution_name is true (default), the full
-        distribution read from the OS is returned. Otherwise the short
-        name taken from supported_dists is used.
-
         Returns a tuple (distname,version,id) which default to the
         args given as parameters.
 
     """
+
+    # found will contains elements that have been set from _ETC_DIR files parsing
+    found = {}
+    # First read _ETC_DIR/lsb-release to initialize distname, version and id
+    lsb = os.path.join(_ETC_DIR, "lsb-release")
+    if os.path.exists(lsb):
+        with open(lsb, 'r') as fp: 
+            for line in fp:
+                m = _lsb_variable.match( line )
+                if m:
+                    n, v = m.groups()
+                    if v:
+                        if   n=='DISTRIB_ID': found[ 'distname' ] = v
+                        elif n == 'DISTRIB_RELEASE': found[ 'version' ] = v
+                        elif n == 'DISTRIB_CODENAME': found[ 'id' ] = v
+
     try:
-        etc = os.listdir('/etc')
+        etc = os.listdir(_ETC_DIR)
     except os.error:
         # Probably not a Unix system
-        return distname,version,id
-    etc.sort()
-    for file in etc:
-        m = _release_filename.match(file)
-        if m is not None:
-            _distname,dummy = m.groups()
-            if _distname in supported_dists:
-                distname = _distname
-                break
-    else:
-        return _dist_try_harder(distname,version,id)
-
-    # Read the first line
-    f = open('/etc/'+file, 'r')
-    firstline = f.readline()
-    f.close()
-    _distname, _version, _id = _parse_release_file(firstline)
-
-    if _distname and full_distribution_name:
-        distname = _distname
-    if _version:
-        version = _version
-    if _id:
-        id = _id
-    return distname, version, id
+        return ( found.get('distname', distname),
+                 found.get( 'version', version ),
+                 found.get( 'id', id ) )
+    # Look for other release files in _ETC_DIR
+    filesAndMatch = []
+    for f in etc:
+        file = os.path.join(_ETC_DIR, f)
+        if file == lsb or os.path.islink(file) or not os.path.isfile(file):
+            continue
+        m = _release_filename.match(f)
+        if m:
+            filesAndMatch.append( ( file, m ) )
+    
+    if not filesAndMatch:
+        # No release file found
+        return _dist_try_harder( found.get('distname',distname),
+                                 found.get( 'version', version ),
+                                 found.get( 'id', id ) )
+    
+    if len( filesAndMatch ) > 1:
+        # If there are several _ETC_DIR/*-release or _ETC_DIR/*-version files
+        # they are sorted so that the result is always the same whatever
+        # the order returned by os.listdir(_ETC_DIR)
+        filesAndMatch.sort()
+    
+    file, match = filesAndMatch[ 0 ]
+    
+    if not found.has_key( 'distname' ):
+        found[ 'distname' ] = match.group( 1 )
+    
+    with open( file, 'r' ) as fp:
+        firstline = fp.readline()
+        
+        _distname, _version, _id = _parse_release_file(firstline)
+        
+        if _distname:
+            if not found.has_key( 'distname' ):
+                found[ 'distname' ] = _distname.replace ( ' ', '' )
+        if _version:
+            if not found.has_key( 'version' ):
+                found[ 'version' ] = _version
+        if _id:
+            if not found.has_key( 'id' ):
+                found[ 'id' ] = _id
+
+    return ( found.get('distname',distname),
+             found.get( 'version', version ),
+             found.get( 'id', id ) )
 
 # To maintain backwards compatibility:
 
-def dist(distname='',version='',id='',
-
-         supported_dists=_supported_dists):
+def dist(distname='',version='',id=''):
 
     """ Tries to determine the name of the Linux OS distribution name.
 
@@ -355,9 +389,7 @@
         args given as parameters.
 
     """
-    return linux_distribution(distname, version, id,
-                              supported_dists=supported_dists,
-                              full_distribution_name=0)
+    return linux_distribution(distname, version, id)
 
 class _popen:
 
@@ -451,7 +483,7 @@
     """ Normalize the version and build strings and return a single
         version string using the format major.minor.build (or patchlevel).
     """
-    l = string.split(version,'.')
+    l = version.split('.')
     if build:
         l.append(build)
     try:
@@ -460,7 +492,7 @@
         strings = l
     else:
         strings = map(str,ints)
-    version = string.join(strings[:3],'.')
+    version = '.'.join(strings[:3])
     return version
 
 _ver_output = re.compile(r'(?:([\w ]+) ([\w.]+) '
@@ -505,7 +537,7 @@
         return system,release,version
 
     # Parse the output
-    info = string.strip(info)
+    info = info.strip()
     m = _ver_output.match(info)
     if m is not None:
         system,release,version = m.groups()
@@ -776,7 +808,7 @@
             # These releases use the old name SunOS
             return system,release,version
         # Modify release (marketing release = SunOS release - 3)
-        l = string.split(release,'.')
+        l = release.split('.')
         if l:
             try:
                 major = int(l[0])
@@ -785,7 +817,7 @@
             else:
                 major = major - 3
                 l[0] = str(major)
-                release = string.join(l,'.')
+                release = '.'.join(l)
         if release < '6':
             system = 'Solaris'
         else:
@@ -815,29 +847,19 @@
     """ Helper to format the platform string in a filename
         compatible format e.g. "system-version-machine".
     """
-    # Format the platform string
-    platform = string.join(
-        map(string.strip,
-            filter(len, args)),
-        '-')
+    platform = '-'.join(s.strip() for s in args)
 
     # Cleanup some possible filename obstacles...
-    replace = string.replace
-    platform = replace(platform,' ','_')
-    platform = replace(platform,'/','-')
-    platform = replace(platform,'\\','-')
-    platform = replace(platform,':','-')
-    platform = replace(platform,';','-')
-    platform = replace(platform,'"','-')
-    platform = replace(platform,'(','-')
-    platform = replace(platform,')','-')
+    platform = platform.replace(' ', '_')
+    for s in ('/', '\\', ':', ';', '"', "'", '(', ')'):
+        platform = platform.replace(s, '-')
 
     # No need to report 'unknown' information...
-    platform = replace(platform,'unknown','')
+    platform = platform.replace('unknown', '')
 
     # Fold '--'s and remove trailing '-'
     while 1:
-        cleaned = replace(platform,'--','-')
+        cleaned = platform.replace('--', '-')
         if cleaned == platform:
             break
         platform = cleaned
@@ -899,7 +921,7 @@
         f = os.popen('uname %s 2> /dev/null' % option)
     except (AttributeError,os.error):
         return default
-    output = string.strip(f.read())
+    output = f.read().strip()
     rc = f.close()
     if not output or rc:
         return default
@@ -921,7 +943,7 @@
         f = os.popen('file %s 2> /dev/null' % target)
     except (AttributeError,os.error):
         return default
-    output = string.strip(f.read())
+    output = f.read().strip()
     rc = f.close()
     if not output or rc:
         return default
@@ -1102,7 +1124,7 @@
         elif system[:4] == 'java':
             release,vendor,vminfo,osinfo = java_ver()
             system = 'Java'
-            version = string.join(vminfo,', ')
+            version = ', '.join(vminfo)
             if not version:
                 version = vendor
 
@@ -1147,7 +1169,7 @@
     if processor == 'unknown':
         processor = ''
 
-    #  normalize name
+    # normalize name
     if system == 'Microsoft' and release == 'Windows':
         system = 'Windows'
         release = 'Vista'
@@ -1311,10 +1333,10 @@
         builddate = builddate + ' ' + buildtime
 
     # Add the patchlevel version if missing
-    l = string.split(version, '.')
+    l = version.split('.')
     if len(l) == 2:
         l.append('0')
-        version = string.join(l, '.')
+        version = '.'.join(l)
 
     # Build and cache the result
     result = (name, version, branch, revision, buildno, builddate, compiler)
@@ -1371,7 +1393,7 @@
     """
     if hasattr(sys, 'version_info'):
         return sys.version_info[:3]
-    return tuple(string.split(_sys_version()[1], '.'))
+    return tuple(_sys_version()[1].split('.'))
 
 def python_branch():
 
Index: Lib/test/platform/redhat_nahant/redhat-release
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/platform/redhat_nahant/redhat-release	(revision 0)
+++ Lib/test/platform/redhat_nahant/redhat-release	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS release 4 (Nahant)
Index: Lib/test/platform/redhat_nahant/lsb-release
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/platform/redhat_nahant/lsb-release	(revision 0)
+++ Lib/test/platform/redhat_nahant/lsb-release	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+LSB_VERSION="1.3"
Index: Lib/test/platform/centos_release5/redhat-release
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/platform/centos_release5/redhat-release	(revision 0)
+++ Lib/test/platform/centos_release5/redhat-release	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+CentOS release 5 (Final)
Index: Lib/test/platform/debian_etch/debian_version
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/platform/debian_etch/debian_version	(revision 0)
+++ Lib/test/platform/debian_etch/debian_version	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+4.0
Index: Lib/test/platform/README.txt
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/platform/README.txt	(revision 0)
+++ Lib/test/platform/README.txt	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+This directory contains *-release files for platform.dist() tests.
+
Index: Lib/test/platform/ubuntu_gutsy/debian_version
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/platform/ubuntu_gutsy/debian_version	(revision 0)
+++ Lib/test/platform/ubuntu_gutsy/debian_version	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+lenny/sid
Index: Lib/test/platform/ubuntu_gutsy/lsb-release
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/platform/ubuntu_gutsy/lsb-release	(revision 0)
+++ Lib/test/platform/ubuntu_gutsy/lsb-release	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
+DISTRIB_RELEASE=7.10
+DISTRIB_CODENAME=gutsy
+DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 7.10"
Index: Lib/test/test_platform.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_platform.py	(revision 60977)
+++ Lib/test/test_platform.py	(working copy)
@@ -1,7 +1,33 @@
+import os
 import unittest
 from test import test_support
 import platform
 
+testdir = os.path.dirname(__file__) or os.curdir
+platform_dir = os.path.join(testdir, "platform")
+
+dist_expected = {
+    'ubuntu_gutsy'    : ('Ubuntu', '7.10', 'gutsy'),
+    'redhat_nahant'   : ('redhat', '4', 'Nahant'),
+    'debian_etch'     : ('debian', '4.0', ''),
+    'centos_release5' : ('redhat', '5', 'Final'),
+    }
+
+class PlatformDistTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.etc = platform._ETC_DIR
+    
+    def tearDown(self):
+        platform._ETC_DIR = self.etc
+    
+    def test_dist(self):
+        for subdir, expected in dist_expected.items():
+            directory = os.path.join(platform_dir, subdir)
+            platform._ETC_DIR = directory
+            result = platform.dist()
+            self.assertEqual(result, expected)
+
 class PlatformTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_architecture(self):
         res = platform.architecture()
@@ -72,7 +98,8 @@
 
 def test_main():
     test_support.run_unittest(
-        PlatformTest
+        PlatformTest,
+        PlatformDistTest
     )
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':