why osquery do not use linux os name /etc/os-release but that from

Question

I understand that it makes sense to use /etc/redhat-release or /etc/gentoo-release to identify os platform (aka the origin of the linux)

but why not use os name from /etc/os-release? which will more accurately describe the exact linux os name (e.g. the exact variant of a redhat)

Answer 1

You ask "why"... Asking why is sometimes hard to answer. In this case, I suspect it's because /etc/os-release is a systemd thing, and not universal.

Osquery tries to work on a broad range of operating systems.

As for whether it's better to try it, maybe? Osquery is a volunteer project. You could submit that as a patch (or an issue)