Re: [boost] [1.35.0] Release Candidate 2 available

From: Phil Endecott (spam_from_boost_dev_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-03-24 16:50:50

Beman Dawes wrote:
> Phil Endecott wrote:
>> - It's nice that the build process uses "./configure; make; make 
>> install" but it would be even nicer if there was a file called INSTALL 
>> that explained, in a couple of lines, that that was the way to build 
>> it.  This would make it even more like other open-source packages.
>
> Would you like to volunteer to draft INSTALL? It should have two 
> sections, one for POSIX-like systems, and one for Windows, and should 
> also include a pointer to the full install docs. (Added to issues list, 
> but not considered a showstopper.)

There are some good instructions at 
http://beta.boost.org/doc/libs/1_34_1/more/getting_started/unix-variants.html, 
section 5.1 "Easy Build and Install".  That's for 1.34.1, and I've just 
been on a wild goose chase looking for the 1.35 equivalent.  I can't 
find it at beta.boost.org, but I recall reading something here about 
the "more" content and beta.boost.org, so I won't revisit that.  In the 
download, it seems to be in more/getting_started.  That took me a 
_long_ time to find: I was doing all sorts of greps in the doc 
directory.  Can't more be a subdir of doc?  Or can't getting_started 
just live in doc?  Having a bulging doc directory and then stashing the 
first documentation that you're going to need somewhere else just seems 
calculated to confuse.

Anyway, here's what I propose putting in INSTALL in the root of the 
distribution.  I don't know enough about Boost on Windows to write 
anything about that; feel free to edit.

Installation Instructions
=========================

Installation instructions can be found online at http://bost.org/???FIXME???/more/getting_started/.
The same instructions can be found in the more/getting_started 
directory, once the documentation has been built.

For the very impatient: on unix variants you can "./configure; make; 
make install".  See the output of "./configure --help" for various 
settings that you may want to change.

Phil.