A reasonable tar to unpack the distribution. GNU tar is known to work. Sun tar is known to have problems. If you only have gcc 2.7.x, you must upgrade your gcc to be able to compile MySQL . A good make program.
GNU make is always recommended and is sometimes required.
If you have problems, we recommend trying GNU make 3.75 or newer. Otherwise, you may compile a binary that crashes randomly. On most systems this will give you a fast and stable binary. Even if the problem isn't a bug, mysqlbug gathers system information that will help others solve your problem. See section 2.3 How to Report Bugs or Problems .