Re: [boost] Boost.Build merge?

Subject: Re: [boost] Boost.Build merge?
From: Rene Rivera (grafikrobot_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-10-10 20:14:52

Eric Niebler wrote:
> Vladimir Prus wrote:

>> To reiterate, I think Boost.Build should be merged because:

> The development process should work like this: you make a change to 
> trunk, wait for tests to cycle, and if they look good, you merge the 
> change to release. The process should *not* work like this: you make 
> change after change to trunk, and wait until the very last minute to 
> drop them all into the release branch at once.

Perhaps there's been a slight misunderstanding. Keep in mind that build 
tools infrastructure is treated somewhat differently than library code:

* The Boost.Build changes always get tested on trunk, and on the release 
branch.

* AFAIK there have been numerous cycles of the Boost tests with the 
changes Volodya has in mind.

* We have traditionally merged Boost.Build to the release at the very 
last minute to have the release contain the most accurate state of what 
we test. Although in the last release we froze the tools code shortly 
before the release to reduce the chances of problems.

Hence:

* There is no advantage to not merging Boost.Build to release.

* It's actually a disservice to users and library authors since it would 
make for discrepancy between what is tested and what is released.

* When the Boost.Build merge to release happens it also means that the 
Boost.Build code will also need to be frozen on branches/release and on 
trunk. At which point Volodya, Jurko, myself, and others get to either 
avoid doing Boost.Build stuff or work in other branches.

Consequently I'm not only in favor of merging Boost.Build to release, 
but I'm insisting it's required.

Note, this special arrangement may change in the near future. But for 
now we've tried to make the Boost.Build development as minimally 
disruptive and maximally advantageous as we can manage.

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