RE: [boost] Re: Customer Friendlier Boost Installation

From: Reece Dunn (msclrhd_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-05-27 10:09:22

Brian Braatz wrote:
> > Paul A Bristow a écrit :
> > * Finally, installing boost takes longer than installing VC++... Is
> > building from the source such an important point ? Would'nt it be
> > possible to provide pre-built libraries for the 3 or 4 main compilers on
> > windows with each release ? The whole package, zipped, is 80mb on my 
>VC8.
>[Brian Braatz Writes:]
>Thank you for also suggesting that.

Why not make it configurable as part of the install:

[0]  Dependancies: check for Python, cygwin, xsltproc, doxygen, etc. 
allowing the user to configure these ("I have Python installed here...").
[1]  Get Boost from... [local directory, boost-consulting, sourceforge, CVS 
(requires a CVS client), ...]
[2]  Select the compilers/versions I want to use Boost on (auto-detected and 
configurable list -- add compilers/versions not on the list, select "(do 
not) support"
[3]  Select which parts of Boost the user whats to install/build
[4]  Tools: get prebuilt version of bjam/wave/quickbook or build from 
distribution (with compiler...)
[5]  List prebuild libraries so I can select the compilers/versions I want 
to support
[6]  Build libraries for the compilers/versions I want to support (that I 
haven't downloaded prebuild versions for)

The order of the above would probably change. The options should have 
suitable (auto-detected if possible) defaults so the user can just click 
next on all the pages to get up and running, while allowing the user to run 
the setup program again to add support for a new compiler or use a new 
library (e.g. program options).

If the user selects "Download Boost from CVS" then the install should skip 
downloading prebuild libraries. Likewise if they choose to download an older 
version (e.g. 1.31).

Reece Haston Dunn
Software Engineer, Sophos

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