Greg Smith <gsmith@gregsmith.com> writes:
> The trick I suggest people who use packaged builds get familiar with is
> knowing that if you run pg_config and look for the CONFIGURE line, you'll
> find out exactly what options were used by the builder of the package you
> have, when they compiled the server from source for that package. If
> you've been using a packaged build, but now discovered you need to use a
> source one instead, you should be able to grab the source, compile with
> those same options, and get a compatible server out of it.
One other point worth making here is that there are *no* open source
OS distributions that intend to make package building difficult or
arcane, or that won't give you the full sources for what they built.
It's worth your time to learn how to do this on whatever system you
prefer to use. Then, if you're ever in a situation where you really
need patch XYZ right now, you can easily add that patch to the package
sources and rebuild a custom version that will play nicely within the
distro's package system --- right up to being automatically replaced
when the next regular release does come out.
regards, tom lane