Re: [boost] Status of the CMake-ification

Subject: Re: [boost] Status of the CMake-ification
From: Robert Ramey (ramey_at_[hidden])
Date: 2015-11-17 17:41:07

On 11/17/15 1:52 PM, Stephen Kelly wrote:
> Vladimir Prus wrote:
>
>> On 17-Nov-15 11:37 AM, Stephen Kelly wrote:
>>> Note that for users of boost, there would be a great benefit if
>>> boost.build would generate cmake packages with imported targets.
>>>
>>> I can help if someone who maintains boost.build wants to pursue that.
>>
>> FWIW, this proposal is something that can be actually implemented, and
>> probably will help users.

I appreciate your efforts to improve boost, but I would like to 
discourage you from pursuing this.  Boost Build is already too complex 
for most of us to understand.  This idea follows the strategy - build it 
all in so that it works automagically.  But the problem is that the job 
is too varied and to complex for this to work.  We then end up with 
something that usually works - until it doesn't.

Please consider a different approach.

Make a Boost/CMake cheat sheet which would serve as a "template" for 
library authors to use to make their own CMakeList.text files.  Then be 
available to help out anyone who asks for it.  I believe it would be 
more effective in getting Boost to work better with CMake.  I already 
spent some time on this for the inclubator.  But my effort isn't 
complete - it addresses only the running of test on header only 
libraries.  So there is lots of opportunity to make an impact here.

Robert Ramey