Re: [Boost-build] Jam rename?

Subject: Re: [Boost-build] Jam rename?
From: Alexander Sack (pisymbol_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-03-17 12:19:12

On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 8:31 AM, Ian Emmons <iemmons_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> Suppressing the Boost.Jam "brand" (and packaging bjam within the Boost.Build
> distribution) is a great idea.
>
> On Mar 14, 2009, at 11:09 AM, Alexander Sack wrote:
>
>> The other issue I have is that bjam/Boost.Build has very little to do
>> with Boost as a whole.  I understand its the Boost project and team
>> that maintains it and supports it etc.  But you don't have to use a
>> single Boost library or header to find bjam/Boost.Build a great build
>> tool.
>
>
> One could make the same argument about most of the Boost libraries
> themselves -- they have little to do with each other.  Foe instance, you
> don't have to use a single math function to find date-time useful.

But they are all still libraries and all have Boost.  I think the
correlation is loser in the Bjam case.  Moreover, you have to go to
boost.org to grab them and the main focus here by a landslide are the
libraries and headers, not the build tool that happens to be part of
the Boost swiss army knife.

> Put another way, Boost is a large toolbox full of tools for many disparate
> jobs.  The fact that one of the tools is a build system while most of the
> others are libraries seems like a small distinction to me.

I would have to disagree when we look at the larger context.  If
Java's Ant or Maven were part of a third-party set of Java libraries
or framework (let's say they came with Spring), I think they wouldn't
as popular.  Same idea when it comes to the *[m|M]ake's.  If GNUmake
came with glibc, again, would not be the same thing.

I think for Bjam/Boost.Build to be like Ant/Maven (defacto industry
wide Java building standards) I think the first step is to *sell* it
as an agnostic tool (thats not a technical *sell* either because I'm
quite aware that its more than platform agnostic).

How many people EVEN know about bjam/Boost.Build who DON'T USE boost
libraries and/or headers?

My 2 cents.

-aps