Add build instructions to readme

README.md

@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ orotool is released under the GPL3+
 
 ## Compiling the project ##
 
-Work in progress
+To compile orotool you will need:
+
+* [meson](https://mesonbuild.com/)
+* [gcc](https://gcc.gnu.org/) with C++17 support
 
 ### Dependencies ###
 
@@ -32,6 +35,45 @@ Work in progress
 * [magic_enum](https://github.com/Neargye/magic_enum/) (compulsory, bundled)
 * [gnulib](https://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=gnulib.git) (compulsory, bundled)
 
+### Building ###
+
+1. download the source code
+2. create an empty directory
+3. cd into your new directory and run `meson setup -Dbuildtype=release <path_to_orotool_source>`
+4. compile with the command `ninja`
+5. if compilation succeeds, you will find the binary inside the src directory
+6. run `ninja install` to copy files into your system install location
+
+You can change the command at step 3 to customise certain aspects of orotool.
+You can for example specify `--sysconfdir <path>` for the path where `orotool.conf`
+should be found in. `-Dprefix` will change the install prefix. For example:
+
+```
+meson setup -Dprefix=/usr -Dsysconfdir=/etc -Dbuildtype=release ~/dev/orotool/
+```
+
+Other options can be found in `meson_options.txt`. In meson you specify options
+with the `-Doption` syntax to the setup subcommand, just like `-Dbuildtype`.
+For example `-Dbase_url`.
+
+For options of type `feature` (see inside `meson_options.txt`) possible values
+are: `enabled`, `disabled`, `auto`. A short description of each:
+
+* `enabled` the feature must be compiled in, configuration will fail if dependencies are missing
+* `disabled` the feature is disabled
+* `auto` the feature will only be compiled in if the required dependencies are present on the system
+
+For more informations please read the meson [documentation](https://mesonbuild.com/Build-options.html#features).
+
+Details about supported options:
+
+* `base_url` allows you to change the url of the remote API address (mostly useful when debugging)
+* `def_sqlite_db_name` this is the default value for the `db_path` option in the config file
+* `tests` enable building tests (currently it only has effect on some subprojects)
+* `with_sqlite` if you want to compile with SQLite support (this is the only available backend at the moment)
+* `rest_lib` which method will be used to access the remote API. `nap` is the internal one (curl+simdjson). `restc-cpp` is currently broken due to a [bug](https://github.com/jgaa/restc-cpp/issues/101) upstream
+* `with_lzma` adds support for JSON logs compression (option `json_store_mode=xz` in the config file)
+
 ## Contact ##
 
 The best way to get in touch is on IRC: