how to check mysql version

mysql> SELECT version();
+--------------------+
| version() |
+--------------------+
| 5.0.51a-3ubuntu5.7 |
+--------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> status
--------------
mysql Ver 14.12 Distrib 5.0.51a, for debian-linux-gnu (i486) using readline 5.2

Current pager: stdout
Using outfile: ''
Using delimiter: ;
Server version: 5.0.51a-3ubuntu5.7 (Ubuntu)
Protocol version: 10
Connection: Localhost via UNIX socket
Server characterset: latin1
Db characterset: latin1
Client characterset: latin1
Conn. characterset: latin1
UNIX socket: /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
Uptime: 153 days 19 hours 36 min 16 sec