About installation

From: Daryle Walker (darylew_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-02-24 13:57:30

I've seen a lot of messages about using autoconf or jam for installing
Boost.  I wonder if these people are making the issue more complicated than
it is.  Remember that some of us (like pre-X Mac users) use Boost without
Jam, we just resolve the build issues manually.  It's not that hard, just:

1.  Expand the Boost archive somewhere
2.  Have your makefile or project file point to the BOOST_ROOT/boost
directory as part of its search for (system) header files.
3.  For mandatory source files, add those individually to your project file
or makefile.
4.  There is no step 4....

I don't think there are any mandatory source files that must be put in a
separate (static or dynamic) library first.  I'm not entirely sure of this,
as the Boost.Threads people always talk about a DLL.

The process could be improved.  I think step [3] is the biggest pain, as you
need to figure out which mandatory source files are needed (if any) and
where they are.  Those files are currently scattered.  I think that a single
"boost_src" directory for mandatory source files, paralleling the "boost"
directory for headers, could be better for installation purposes.  It gives
users only one extra directory to worry about.  (We've talked about this
idea before.)

Regular source files in this directory would be added as normal.  However,
we could move template source files there too.  For systems supporting
"export," they would be added like non-template source files.  The other
systems, they could be #included at the end of their header file (after
adding BOOST_ROOT/boost_src to the [system] header search path).

-- 
Daryle Walker
Mac, Internet, and Video Game Junkie
darylew AT mac DOT com