4 Copyright (c) 2009-2014 Bitcoin Developers
9 [Bitcoin Core](http://bitcoin.org/en/download) is the original Bitcoin client and it builds the backbone of the network. However, it downloads and stores the entire history of Bitcoin transactions (which is currently several GBs); depending on the speed of your computer and network connection, the synchronization process can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or more. Thankfully you only have to do this once. If you would like the process to go faster you can [download the blockchain directly](bootstrap.md).
13 The following are some helpful notes on how to run Bitcoin on your native platform.
17 You need the Qt4 run-time libraries to run Bitcoin-Qt. On Debian or Ubuntu:
19 sudo apt-get install libqtgui4
21 Unpack the files into a directory and run:
23 - bin/32/bitcoin-qt (GUI, 32-bit) or bin/32/bitcoind (headless, 32-bit)
24 - bin/64/bitcoin-qt (GUI, 64-bit) or bin/64/bitcoind (headless, 64-bit)
30 Unpack the files into a directory, and then run bitcoin-qt.exe.
34 Drag Bitcoin-Qt to your applications folder, and then run Bitcoin-Qt.
38 * See the documentation at the [Bitcoin Wiki](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page)
39 for help and more information.
40 * Ask for help on [#bitcoin](http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=bitcoin) on Freenode. If you don't have an IRC client use [webchat here](http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=bitcoin).
41 * Ask for help on the [BitcoinTalk](https://bitcointalk.org/) forums, in the [Technical Support board](https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=4.0).
45 The following are developer notes on how to build Bitcoin on your native platform. They are not complete guides, but include notes on the necessary libraries, compile flags, etc.
47 - [OSX Build Notes](build-osx.md)
48 - [Unix Build Notes](build-unix.md)
52 The Bitcoin repo's [root README](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/README.md) contains relevant information on the development process and automated testing.
54 - [Coding Guidelines](coding.md)
55 - [Multiwallet Qt Development](multiwallet-qt.md)
56 - [Release Notes](release-notes.md)
57 - [Release Process](release-process.md)
58 - [Source Code Documentation (External Link)](https://dev.visucore.com/bitcoin/doxygen/)
59 - [Translation Process](translation_process.md)
60 - [Unit Tests](unit-tests.md)
63 * Discuss on the [BitcoinTalk](https://bitcointalk.org/) forums, in the [Development & Technical Discussion board](https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=6.0).
64 * Discuss on [#bitcoin-dev](http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=bitcoin) on Freenode. If you don't have an IRC client use [webchat here](http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=bitcoin-dev).
67 - [Assets Attribution](assets-attribution.md)
69 - [Tor Support](tor.md)
70 - [Init Scripts (systemd/upstart/openrc)](init.md)
74 Distributed under the [MIT software license](http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php).
75 This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the [OpenSSL Toolkit](https://www.openssl.org/). This product includes