[boost] Boost on Debian

From: Steve M. Robbins (steven.robbins_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-02-19 12:50:55

Hello Dave,

I'm responding to your message on boost mailing list
http://lists.boost.org/Archives/boost/2006/02/100262.php
Domenico Andreoli also contributed to this response.

Apologies for the tardy response.  I read the list very infrequently
via web archives and I have only just noticed the message.

So you ask:

    I am going to be trying to write some new "getting started"
    documentation for Boost for the upcoming release. I would really
    like to include some information about what people can expect when
    they get Boost packages from their Debian, RedHat, whatever
    distribution. All of our documentation so far is written from the
    perspective that users have a complete Boost CVS tree, but I guess
    that's not true for everyone? Can you fill us in?

The short answer is: someone wishing to develop code using Boost under
Debian need install the package libboost-dev (and, possibly, other
-dev packages like libboost-filesystem-dev).  The headers as well as
static and shared library files are all installed into standard linux
locations.  Compilation and linking is done with no special options
other than specifying the library; e.g. "-lboost_filesystem".

Our goal is to make the Debian Boost library packages as much like
standard libraries as possible.  For Debian, this means that headers
and link-time library files are contained in a "-dev" package.  In
addition, for each library that builds a shared object, we have a
separate, versioned package, e.g. "libboost-filesystem1.33.1".
Normally, however, one isn't concerned with the library package
because the "-dev" package depends on the shared library package and
installing the former automatically brings in the latter.  The list of
all -dev packages can be obtained by looking at what libboost-dev
suggests with standard Debian tools like "aptitude" or "apt-cache".

The "-dev" package contains the "release" build with both single- and
multi-threaded versions, in both static and shared flavours for a
total of 4 libraries.  So the developer may choose to link using
"-llibboost_filesystem-gcc-1_33_1" or "
"-llibboost_filesystem-gcc-mt-1_33_1", shared or static.

We also provide a shorthand symbolic link for the multithreaded
version; you can use just "-llibboost_filesystem" (shared or static).

In addition to the "-dev" packages, we have
  libboost-doc (documentation)
  bcp
  boost-jam
  boost-build (v2)

Finally, there is a "libboost-dbg" package that contains the debug
build of all the shared libraries, both single- and multi-threaded.

Hope this is helpful,
-Steve

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