(mysql.info) choosing-distribution-format

 
 2.1.2.2 Choosing a Distribution Format
 ......................................
 
 After choosing which version of MySQL to install, you should decide
 whether to use a binary distribution or a source distribution. In most
 cases, you should probably use a binary distribution, if one exists for
 your platform. Binary distributions are available in native format for
 many platforms, such as RPM files for Linux or DMG package installers
 for Mac OS X. Distributions also are available as Zip archives or
 compressed `tar' files.
 
 Reasons to choose a binary distribution include the following:
 
    * Binary distributions generally are easier to install than source
      distributions.
 
    * To satisfy different user requirements, we provide two different
      binary versions. One is compiled with the core feature set. The
      other (MySQL-Max) is compiled with an extended feature set. Both
      versions are compiled from the same source distribution. All
      native MySQL clients can connect to servers from either MySQL
      version.
 
      The extended MySQL binary distribution is identified by the `-max'
      suffix and is configured with the same options as `mysqld-max'. See
       mysqld-max.
 
      For RPM distributions, if you want to use the `MySQL-Max' RPM, you
      must first install the standard `MySQL-server' RPM.
 
 Under some circumstances, you may be better off installing MySQL from a
 source distribution:
 
    * You want to install MySQL at some explicit location. The standard
      binary distributions are ready to run at any installation
      location, but you might require even more flexibility to place
      MySQL components where you want.
 
    * You want to configure `mysqld' to ensure that features are
      available that might not be included in the standard binary
      distributions. Here is a list of the most common extra options
      that you may want to use to ensure feature availability:
 
         * -with-innodb
 
         * -with-berkeley-db (not available on all platforms)
 
         * -with-libwrap
 
         * -with-named-z-libs (this is done for some of the binaries)
 
         * -with-debug[=full]
 
    * You want to configure `mysqld' without some features that are
      included in the standard binary distributions. For example,
      distributions normally are compiled with support for all character
      sets. If you want a smaller MySQL server, you can recompile it
      with support for only the character sets you need.
 
    * You have a special compiler (such as `pgcc') or want to use
      compiler options that are better optimized for your processor.
      Binary distributions are compiled with options that should work on
      a variety of processors from the same processor family.
 
    * You want to use the latest sources from one of the BitKeeper
      repositories to have access to all current bugfixes. For example,
      if you have found a bug and reported it to the MySQL development
      team, the bugfix is committed to the source repository and you can
      access it there. The bugfix does not appear in a release until a
      release actually is issued.
 
    * You want to read (or modify) the C and C++ code that makes up
      MySQL. For this purpose, you should get a source distribution,
      because the source code is always the ultimate manual.
 
    * Source distributions contain more tests and examples than binary
      distributions.
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