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+# Ledger: Command-Line Accounting
+
+Ledger is a powerful, double-entry accounting system that is accessed from the
+UNIX command-line.  This may put off some users, since there is no flashy UI,
+but for those who want unparalleled reporting access to their data there are
+few alternatives.
+
+## For the Impatient
+
+I know, you just want to build and play.  If you have all the dependencies
+installed (see below), then simply do this:
+
+    git clone git://github.com/jwiegley/ledger.git
+    cd ledger && ./acprep update  # Update to the latest, configure, make
+
+Now try your first ledger command:
+
+    ./ledger -f test/input/sample.dat reg
+
+## To the Rest
+
+If you're reading this file, you have in your hands the Bleeding Edge.  This
+may very well *not* be what you want, since it's not guaranteed to be in a
+functionally complete state.  It's under active development, and may change in
+any way at any time.
+
+What you may prefer is the current stable release, or the current beta branch.
+The **BETA** is what I prefer people use, since I still have a chance to fix
+major bugs that you find.  Just e-mail me, or post to the mailing list,
+they'll become a part of my work list.
+
+<table>
+<tr><td><strong>RELEASE</strong></td><td><tt>git checkout v2.6.3</tt></td></tr>
+<tr><td><strong>CURRENT</strong></td><td><tt>git checkout maint</tt></td></tr>
+<tr><td><strong>BETA</strong></td><td><tt>git checkout -b master origin/master</tt></td></tr>
+<tr><td><strong>ALPHA</strong></td><td><tt>git checkout -b next origin/next</tt></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+There are also several topic branches which contain experimental features,
+though none of these are guaranteed to compile.  Best to chat with me on
+[IRC](irc://irc.freenode.net/ledger) or via the
+[mailing list](http://groups.google.com/group/ledger-cli) before going too
+much further with those.
+
+## Dependencies
+
+If you wish to proceed in this venture, you'll need a few dependencies.  The
+easiest way to get them for your platform is to run:
+
+    ./acprep dependencies
+
+If that doesn't completely work, here are the dependencies for building the
+current `master` branch:
+
+<table>
+<tr><td>Boost</td><td>1.35</td><td></td></tr>
+<tr><td>GMP</td><td>4.2.2</td><td></td></tr>
+<tr><td>MPFR</td><td>2.4.0</td><td></td></tr>
+<tr><td>gettext</td><td>0.17</td><td><em>optional</em></td></tr>
+<tr><td>libedit</td><td>20090111-3.0</td><td><em>optional</em></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Python</td><td>2.4</td><td><em>optional</em></td></tr>
+<tr><td>doxygen</td><td>1.5.7.1</td><td><em>optional</em>, for <tt>make docs</tt></td></tr>
+<tr><td>graphviz</td><td>2.20.3</td><td><em>optional</em>, for <tt>make docs</tt></td></tr>
+<tr><td>texinfo</td><td>4.13</td><td><em>optional</em>, for <tt>make docs</tt></td></tr>
+<tr><td>lcov</td><td>1.6</td><td><em>optional</em>, for <tt>make report</tt>, used with <tt>/./acprep gcov</tt></td></tr>
+<tr><td>sloccount</td><td>2.26</td><td><em>optional</em>, for <tt>make sloc</tt></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+And for building the current `maint` branch:
+
+<table>
+<tr><td>GMP</td><td>4.2.2</td><td> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>pcre</td><td>7.7</td><td> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>libofx</td><td>0.8.3</td><td><em>optional</em></td></tr>
+<tr><td>expat</td><td>2.0.1</td><td><em>optional</em></td></tr>
+<tr><td>libxml2</td><td>2.7.2</td><td><em>optional</em></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+### MacPorts
+
+If you build stuff using MacPorts on OS X, as I do, here is what you would
+run:
+
+    sudo port install -f cmake python26
+        libiconv +universal zlib +universal gmp +universal
+        mpfr +universal ncurses +universal ncursesw +universal
+        gettext +universal libedit +universal boost-jam
+        boost +st+python26+icu texlive doxygen graphviz
+        texinfo lcov sloccount
+
+You can even just install the current Ledger **RELEASE** directly:
+
+    sudo port install ledger
+
+### Ubuntu
+
+If you're going to build on Ubuntu, `sudo apt-get install ...` the
+following packages (current as of Ubuntu Hardy):
+
+    sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake zlib1g-dev libbz2-dev
+         python-dev bjam cvs gettext libgmp3-dev libmpfr-dev libboost1.35-dev
+         libboost-regex1.35-dev libboost-date-time1.35-dev
+         libboost-filesystem1.35-dev libboost-python1.35-dev texinfo lcov
+         sloccount
+
+Or, for Ubuntu Karmic:
+
+    sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake texinfo python-dev zlib1g-dev
+         libbz2-dev libgmp3-dev bjam gettext cvs libboost1.40-dev
+         libboost-regex1.40-dev libboost-date-time1.40-dev
+         libboost-filesystem1.40-dev libmpfr-dev
+
+### Debian
+
+Debian squeeze (6.0): the version of boost in squeeze is too old
+for ledger and unfortunately no backport is available at the moment.
+
+Debian wheezy (7.0) contains all components needed to build ledger.
+You can install all required build dependencies using the following
+command:
+
+    sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake autopoint texinfo python-dev
+         zlib1g-dev libbz2-dev libgmp3-dev gettext libmpfr-dev
+         libboost-date-time1.49-dev libboost-filesystem1.49-dev
+         libboost-graph49-dev libboost-iostreams1.49-dev
+         libboost-python1.49-dev libboost-regex1.49-dev libboost-test1.49-dev
+
+## Building
+
+The next step is preparing your environment for building.  While you can use
+`cmake .` and make, I've prepared a script that does a lot more of the
+footwork for you:
+
+    ./acprep update
+    # or, if you want to use the Boost libraries with suffix -mt, install in
+    # $HOME/local and build with 2 processes in parallel
+    ./acprep update --boost-suffix=-mt -- --prefix=$HOME/local -j2
+
+Please read the contents of `config.log` if the configure step fails.  Also,
+see the `help` subcommand to `acprep`, which explains some of its many
+options.  It's pretty much the only command I run for configuring, building
+and testing Ledger.
+
+You can run `make check` to confirm the result, and `make install` to install.
+
+If you have extra CPU cycles to burn, try `./acprep proof`, which provides the
+most thorough shakedown of a healthy source tree.
+
+## Resources
+
+Now that you're up and running, here are a few resources to keep in mind:
+
+ - [Home page](http://ledger-cli.org)
+ - [IRC channel](irc://irc.freenode.net/ledger)
+ - [Mailing List / Forum](http://groups.google.com/group/ledger-cli)
+ - [GitHub project page](http://github.com/jwiegley/ledger)
+ - [Buildbot status](http://www.newartisans.com:9090)
+ - [Ohloh code analysis](http://www.ohloh.net/projects/ledger)
+
+If you have ideas you'd like to share, the best way is either to e-mail me a
+patch (I prefer attachments over pasted text), or to get an account on GitHub.
+Once you do, fork the [Ledger project](http://github.com/jwiegley/ledger),
+hack as much as you like, then send me a pull request via GitHub.