1.Source distribution
2.Binary distribution
2.Binary Installation:This is further divided into two parts
a). Generic Binary Format(Zip arcives or compressed tar )
b). Native Format(RPM packages for Linux, DMG packages for Mac OS X, and PKG packages for Solaris.)
In most cases, pepole should probably use a binary distribution, if one exists for their platform.
Binary distributions are available in native format for many platforms, such as RPM packages for Linux, DMG packages for Mac OS X, and PKG packages for Solaris.
Distributions are also available in more generic formats such as Zip archives or compressed tar.
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 several servers in binary distributions. mysqld is an optimized server that is a smaller, faster binary. mysqld-debug is compiled with debugging support.
Each of these servers is compiled from the same source distribution, though with different configuration options. All native MySQL clients can connect to servers from either MySQL version.
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-libwrap
• --with-named-z-libs (this is done for some of the binaries)
• --with-debug[=full]How and When Updates Are Released
For more detail please ref:-http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.x/en/source-configuration-options.html
• 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 want to use the latest sources from one of the Bazaar 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.
#~~#What is the Difference Between MySQL Generic Binaries and RPM Binaries for Linux?
Q:-Is it possible to use the generic MySQL binaries on Linux platforms where an operating system specific version exists?
Ans:-The main difference between the generic Linux binaries and the platform specific ones is how the binaries have been packed. The generic binaries are packed in a
tar-ball that can be installed on any platform, including those where a specific version exists. Another difference is that the tar-balls include everything under one
subdirectory whereas for example an RPM will install each file in the location common for the platform.
Q:-What will be the impact on production database in terms of support and performance, if the generic Linux based binary installation is used rather than the
platform specific RPMs?
Ans:-There will not be any performance difference between installing the RPMs and using the generic tar-ball on a given system. The main difference is that the RPM automates the installation and upgrades to a larger degree than using the generic package.
Q:-What is Oracle recommending for selecting which MySQL binaries to use and what is "best practice"?
Ans:-Due to the easier maintenance when using the RPM installations, Oracle recommends using these if possible, although considerations such as installing into a nondefault
location will tend to favor using the tar-ball.
https://myora-dba-notes.blogspot.com/2014/03/mysql-distribution-formats.html