[boost] Binary compatibility of boost releases. Is there such a thing at all?

Subject: [boost] Binary compatibility of boost releases. Is there such a thing at all?
From: Alexander Churanov (alexanderchuranov_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-05-14 13:08:09

Hi folks!

I am working on boost port for FreeBSD. At present I am investigating
into versioning of shared libraries. Historically, versions of boost
shared libraries on FreeBSD do not match boost release version. Some
FreeBSD folks beleive that application should not be recompiled just
because the boost was updated, say from 1.37 to 1.39 and that shared
library version for 1.39 may stay the same as it was for 1.37. I'm
afraid it's not correct.

I've read that there is no binary compatibility for boost shared
libraries from different releases, and that application must use
exactly the same library it was compiled for. However, these documents
are of 2003-2004. Here is the question:

What is the actual status of binary compatibility for boost?

Alexander Churanov,
maintainer of devel/boost