What is MySQL

MySQL is a database management system

MySQL databases are relational

MySQL software is Open Source

The MySQL Database Server is very fast, reliable, scalable, and easy to use

MySQL Server works in client/server or embedded systems

A large amount of contributed MySQL software is available

Which MySQL Version and Distribution to Install

当我们在选择安装mysql的时候，分为开发者版本和GA版本，开发者版本会提供一些新的特性，但是如果是生产的话还是安装GA的版本
First, decide if you want to install a development release or a GA release. Development releases have the newest features, but are not recommended for production use. GA (General Availability) releases, also called production or stable releases, are meant for production use. We recommend to use the most recent GA release.

mysql的版本号

The naming scheme in MySQL 5.6 uses release names that consist of three numbers and a suffix; for example,mysql-5.6.1-m1. The numbers within the release name are interpreted as follows:

MySQL的版本命名机制使用由3个数字和一个后缀组成的版本号。例如，像mysql-5.1.26-rc的版本号这样解释：

　　·第1个数字(5)是主版本号，描述了文件格式。所有版本5的发行都有相同的文件格式。

　　·第2个数字(6)是发行级别。主版本号和发行级别组合到一起便构成了发行序列号。

　　·第3个数字(1)是在此发行系列的版本号，随每个新分发版递增。通常你需要已经选择的发行(release)的最新版本(版本)。

　　 每次更新后，版本字符串的最后一个数字递增。如果相对于前一个版本增加了新功能或有微小的不兼容性，字符串的第二个数字递增。如果文件格式改变，第一个数字递增。

　　 后缀显示发行的稳定性级别。通过一系列后缀显示如何改进稳定性。可能的后缀有：

• If there is no suffix, it indicates that the release is a General Availability (GA) or Production release. GA releases are stable, having successfully passed through all earlier release stages and are believed to be reliable, free of serious bugs, and suitable for use in production systems. Only critical bugfixes are applied to the release.

• mN (for example, m1, m2, m3, ...) indicate a milestone number. MySQL development uses a milestone model, in which each milestone proceeds through a small number of versions with a tight focus on a small subset of thoroughly tested features. Following the releases for one milestone, development proceeds with another small number of releases that focuses on the next small set of features, also thoroughly tested. Features within milestone releases may be considered to be of pre-production quality.

• rc indicates a Release Candidate. Release candidates are believed to be stable, having passed all of MySQL's internal testing, and with all known fatal runtime bugs fixed. However, the release has not been in widespread use long enough to know for sure that all bugs have been identified. Only minor fixes are added.

　　·rc
    是发布代表；是一个发行了一段时间的beta版本，看起来应该运行正常。只增加了很小的修复。(发布代表即以前所称的gamma 版)

　　·如果没有后缀
    这意味着该版本已经在很多地方运行一段时间了，而且没有非平台特定的缺陷报告。这就是我们称为一个产品（稳定）或“通用”版本的东西。 

How to Get MySQL

可以通过网站 http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/   下载我们需要的版本