Building MySQL-python on OS X 10.5.x (Leopard)

Stock OS X 10.5.4 (Leopard) is devoid of MySQL. Thankfully, binary packages are available from the official MySQL.com website (MySQL 5.0.67, in this case). To use Python with MySQL, not least such when with the MySQL backend, Django is required to run, a Python binding to MySQL need be installed. It is called MySQL-python, and at the time of writing, 1.2.2 is its latest version available. To many a user’s dismay, binary packages of it are not available yet on the official website. To add fuel to fire, causing much frustration, building from source of MySQL-python is best an exercise not suited for those faint of heart.

Two packages, peculiarly to many and aptly to some, named mysql15-dev and mysql15-shlibs, providing development headers and libraries and a bunch of shared libraries all in some manner related to MySQL-5.0.x, are required. With a binary package of MySQL installed already, it makes sense to have binary packages as well of these two installed. This is where the mighty, god-sent fink comes to timely rescue. Luckily, the fink repo has binary packages of the two softwares in question available. Being a dependency of mysql15-dev, mysql15-shlibs is automatically installed with a touch of command such as this:

$ sudo fink --use-binary-dist install mysql15-dev

Building and installing MySQL-python from hereon isn’t any more difficult than running the de facto python package build and install commands. Voila!