[boost] Re: Installing Boost Libraries

From: Jens Maurer (jmaurer_at_[hidden])
Date: 2000-02-24 14:57:59

Before too many implementation options come up, we should
probably collect the requirements for an installation procedure
first.

There are at least three different groups of people using boost:

 - the normal user (install-only)
 - binary distribution maker
 - code contributor

For the normal user, we have:
 (1) very easy installation procedure, automatically finds the
appropriate include and DLL paths for the selected compiler.
 (2) binary distribution for mainstream platforms
(InstallShield on Windows, .rpm and/or .deb on Linux/ix86)
 (3) tractability of version numbers
 (4) no additional mandatory software

For the binary distribution maker:
 (5) one-step generation of a binary distribution .zip or
self-extracting .exe (Windows) file
 (6) have a one-command testsuite to check if everything
compiled ok.

For code contributors:
 (7) Don't put files concerning a single topic in different
directories. We already have this for the include files vs. test
cases: I think they all belong together; or we should dissolve
the separate topic structure of boost completely and have
top-level directories "include/boost", "src", "doc", "testsuite",
"config" (or "build"), possibly with subdirectories for the topics.
 (8) Handle large amounts of small source files (for Unix static
libraries, we want (nearly) every function in a separate object file
so that the resulting executable has minimal size), or better:
provide a selective-compile mechanism where a single source file
generates a multitude of object files depending on preprocessor
symbols.

Jens Maurer