Preparing the System to Build MySQL from BitKeeper Tree

        MySQL developers use BitKeeper (http://www.bitmover.com) for source revision control. A BitKeeper repository containing MySQL source code is publicly available with read-only access.

BitKeeper

MySQL developers use BitKeeper (http://www.bitmover.com) for source revision conrol. A BitKeeper repository containing MySQL source code is publicly available with read-only access. Although MySQL source code can also be obtained by downloading a compressed archive, using BitKeeper offers a number of advantages:

  • You get the most recent source version and can stay up to date with all the devel-
     opments on a daily basis.
  • BitKeeper tools allow you to easily keep track of changes.
  • You can easily keep track of your own changes and submit patches to MySQL
     developers.
                                                                                   

Unfortunately, there are also some disadvantages:

  • The initial setup requires a download of over 30 MB of data if you are down-
     loading the revision history.
  • Special tools such as autoconf, automake, and bison have to be installed in order
     to build MySQL.
  • Since BitMover decided to discontinue the Open Logging License, it is not possi-
     ble to automatically integrate your changes, submit patches, and do other tasks
     without buying a commercial license.

        If the disadvantages of using BitKeeper in your situation outweigh the advantages, please refer to the “Building from Source Distribution” section in this chapter. Otherwise, the first step is to make sure that BitKeeper is installed on your system. 
Without a commercial license, the only advantage of using BitKeeper is being able to get the most recent development source. If you are not planning to use the commercial version of BitKeeper, follow these instructions to download the free BitKeeper client:

  1. Download http://www.bitmover.com/bk-client.shar.
  2. Unpack it by running /bin/sh bk-client.shar.
  3. Execute cd bk_client-1.1; make to build it.
  4. Set PATH=$PWD:$PATH to get around some quirks in sfioball.