RE: [boost] Re: Directory Structure

From: Jeff Garland (jeff_at_[hidden])
Date: 2000-12-16 10:21:04

John Maddock wrote:
> One other point that came across from a point made by Beman in a private
> email on another subject - some commercial users will simply not use boost
> if it relies on any tools not installed by default on the target
> platform - that means no python among other things - sorry :-(

This is a difficult standard to impose on boost.  Aside from the various
Unix flavors, I don't know of a single platform used for development that
doesn't require the installation of tools on top of the platform.  To
develop C++ on Windows I have to install Visual C++ or some other Windows
development environment.  If I am doing commercial development, I will need
to install a design tool, configuration management tool, bug reporting tool,
project tracking tool, above and beyond the compiler.

I'm not saying that it won't discourage some commercial organizations from
using boost if they have to install python to use boost.  I think it will.
However, there are some commercial organizations that won't use boost if
they have to COMPILE it. In addition, some organizations have policies
against using libraries if they can't PAY someone for support.

So until we get to the point where boost is offered in an installable,
pre-compiled form there are going to be plenty of commercial organizations
that aren't interested :-(

Jeff