Merge branch 'mv/commit-date'

[git.git] / INSTALL

diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index d1deb0b3c7a9aba961d40fe541490562fee486ac..61086ab1204a4304cb1d84eeea9d1649878ac9e1 100644 (file)
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ that uses $prefix, the built results have some paths encoded,
 which are derived from $prefix, so "make all; make prefix=/usr
 install" would not work.
 
 which are derived from $prefix, so "make all; make prefix=/usr
 install" would not work.
 

+The beginning of the Makefile documents many variables that affect the way
+git is built.  You can override them either from the command line, or in a
+config.mak file.
+

 Alternatively you can use autoconf generated ./configure script to
 set up install paths (via config.mak.autogen), so you can write instead
 
 Alternatively you can use autoconf generated ./configure script to
 set up install paths (via config.mak.autogen), so you can write instead
 


@@ -34,13 +38,17 @@ Issues of note:
    Interactive Tools package still can install "git", but you can build it
    with --disable-transition option to avoid this.
 
    Interactive Tools package still can install "git", but you can build it
    with --disable-transition option to avoid this.
 

- - You can use git after building but without installing if you
-   wanted to.  Various git commands need to find other git
-   commands and scripts to do their work, so you would need to
-   arrange a few environment variables to tell them that their
-   friends will be found in your built source area instead of at
-   their standard installation area.  Something like this works
-   for me:
+ - You can use git after building but without installing if you want
+   to test drive it.  Simply run git found in bin-wrappers directory
+   in the build directory, or prepend that directory to your $PATH.
+   This however is less efficient than running an installed git, as
+   you always need an extra fork+exec to run any git subcommand.
+
+   It is still possible to use git without installing by setting a few
+   environment variables, which was the way this was done
+   traditionally.  But using git found in bin-wrappers directory in
+   the build directory is far simpler.  As a historical reference, the
+   old way went like this:

 
        GIT_EXEC_PATH=`pwd`
        PATH=`pwd`:$PATH
 
        GIT_EXEC_PATH=`pwd`
        PATH=`pwd`:$PATH


@@ -48,32 +56,42 @@ Issues of note:
        export GIT_EXEC_PATH PATH GITPERLLIB
 
  - Git is reasonably self-sufficient, but does depend on a few external
        export GIT_EXEC_PATH PATH GITPERLLIB
 
  - Git is reasonably self-sufficient, but does depend on a few external

-   programs and libraries:
+   programs and libraries.  Git can be used without most of them by adding
+   the approriate "NO_<LIBRARY>=YesPlease" to the make command line or
+   config.mak file.

 
        - "zlib", the compression library. Git won't build without it.
 
 
        - "zlib", the compression library. Git won't build without it.
 

-       - "openssl".  Unless you specify otherwise, you'll get the SHA1
-         library from here.
+       - "ssh" is used to push and pull over the net.

 
 

-         If you don't have openssl, you can use one of the SHA1 libraries
-         that come with git (git includes the one from Mozilla, and has
-         its own PowerPC and ARM optimized ones too - see the Makefile).
+       - A POSIX-compliant shell is required to run many scripts needed
+         for everyday use (e.g. "bisect", "pull").

 
 

-       - libcurl library; git-http-fetch and git-fetch use them.  You
-         might also want the "curl" executable for debugging purposes.
-         If you do not use http transfer, you are probably OK if you
-         do not have them.
+       - "Perl" is needed to use some of the features (e.g. preparing a
+         partial commit using "git add -i/-p", interacting with svn
+         repositories with "git svn").  If you can live without these, use
+         NO_PERL.

 
 

-       - expat library; git-http-push uses it for remote lock
-         management over DAV.  Similar to "curl" above, this is optional.
+       - "openssl" library is used by git-imap-send to use IMAP over SSL.
+         If you don't need it, use NO_OPENSSL.

 
 

-        - "wish", the Tcl/Tk windowing shell is used in gitk to show the
-          history graphically, and in git-gui.
+         By default, git uses OpenSSL for SHA1 but it will use it's own
+         library (inspired by Mozilla's) with either NO_OPENSSL or
+         BLK_SHA1.  Also included is a version optimized for PowerPC
+         (PPC_SHA1).

 
 

-       - "ssh" is used to push and pull over the net
+       - "libcurl" library is used by git-http-fetch and git-fetch.  You
+         might also want the "curl" executable for debugging purposes.
+         If you do not use http:// or https:// repositories, you do not
+         have to have them (use NO_CURL).
+
+       - "expat" library; git-http-push uses it for remote lock
+         management over DAV.  Similar to "curl" above, this is optional
+         (with NO_EXPAT).

 
 

-       - "perl" and POSIX-compliant shells are needed to use most of
-         the bare-bones Porcelainish scripts.
+       - "wish", the Tcl/Tk windowing shell is used in gitk to show the
+         history graphically, and in git-gui.  If you don't want gitk or
+         git-gui, you can use NO_TCLTK.

 
  - Some platform specific issues are dealt with Makefile rules,
    but depending on your specific installation, you may not
 
  - Some platform specific issues are dealt with Makefile rules,
    but depending on your specific installation, you may not


@@ -101,6 +119,9 @@ Issues of note:
    Building and installing the info file additionally requires
    makeinfo and docbook2X.  Version 0.8.3 is known to work.
 
    Building and installing the info file additionally requires
    makeinfo and docbook2X.  Version 0.8.3 is known to work.
 

+   Building and installing the pdf file additionally requires
+   dblatex.  Version 0.2.7 with asciidoc >= 8.2.7 is known to work.
+

    The documentation is written for AsciiDoc 7, but "make
    ASCIIDOC8=YesPlease doc" will let you format with AsciiDoc 8.
 
    The documentation is written for AsciiDoc 7, but "make
    ASCIIDOC8=YesPlease doc" will let you format with AsciiDoc 8.