Qt, cernlib, geant4, devel

So it seems that there different version of root5 available. So I was wondering if anyone could kindly explain me or refer me to proper document I could read about their differences.

What do you mean by different vesrions of root5? We come with 2 production releases per year and a development release every 6 weeks or so.
See:
root.cern.ch/drupal/content/downloading-root

Rene

I am basically using fink under mac os x for installing any new package. There, I see different type/version of root available. Like root5, root5-qt, root5-devel, root5-geant4, etc, each has its own library.

fink desc root5-qt

[snip]

The package sports several variants giving access to additional,
less commonly used features:

  • cernlib: builds the conversion tools h2root and g2root
    and interfaces to PYTHIA
  • geant4: includes the interface library to Geant4
  • qt: uses the qt interface for the GUI

Thus, if you want e.g. h2root and the qt interface, install root5-cernlib-qt. If you don’t need any of these additional features, just install root5.

The devel version corresponds to the latest development version, while the non-devel is the latest production version. Choose whatever you prefer.