Official releases of PostgreSQL contain INSTALL and HISTORY files in this directory. For people using CVS checkouts, you can view the install instructions at: http://developer.postgresql.org/docs/postgres/installation.html The release notes can be viewed at: http://developer.postgresql.org/docs/postgres/release.html (This file does not appear in release tarballs.) Note that users compiling from CVS will also need compatible versions of Bison and Flex, as discussed in the install documentation (Bison and Flex are not needed when using an official release of PostgreSQL.)