Re: [boost] CMake Announcement from Boost Steering Committee

Subject: Re: [boost] CMake Announcement from Boost Steering Committee
From: Alain Miniussi (Alain.Miniussi_at_[hidden])
Date: 2017-07-21 08:06:11

On 21/07/2017 02:26, Paul Mensonides via Boost wrote:
> On 7/20/2017 2:35 PM, Jared Grubb via Boost wrote:
>
>
>>>  From where I am sitting, CMake is the clear winner of the "build 
>>> system
>>> war". Regardless of how you personally feel about the technical 
>>> merits, it
>>> is hard to argue that Boost as a project and a community is not 
>>> better off
>>> due to this change.
>>>
>>> To some people, this seems out of the blue. To me, this seems 
>>> inevitable.
>>> There have been many discussions on the Boost mailing list over the 
>>> past
>>> months (years, even) about having CMake be a requirement for new 
>>> libraries
>>> and using it as the default build system. We, as a community, pride
>>> ourselves on keeping up with modern software development practices. 
>>> In C++,
>>> that increasingly means using CMake.
>
> Technical merit is all that matters.  We shouldn't be following the 
> popular vote of the unwashed masses.  Boost should be leading--which 
> is really what Boost was about--not "reaching the most people."
Great, we can drop support for all those platforms and compilers people 
should not be using anymore.
And C++11 was so 200X anyway.
Actually, why stick to C++ ? D is the future!

>>> If you imagine two possible futures: one in which Boost uses CMake 
>>> as the
>>> build system and one in which it uses b2, which future do you 
>>> imagine is
>>> better for Boost in the coming years?
>
> What is better is for Boost to return to what it once was--a bastion 
> of pioneering innovation that pushed the state of the art.
A pioneer is someone who's comes first and then is followed by the 
masses. As far as bjam is concerned, it seems it's been stuck in phase 1 
for quite a few years  now.
Boost is a collection C++ libraries, maybe innovation should focus on that.

Alain

>   That implies that "doing things the way everybody else does just 
> because" is not an argument.
>
> Sadly, Boost appears to me to have progressively degenerated and is 
> rapidly approaching mediocrity.  CMake is just one more step in that 
> direction.
>
> The SC can go ahead and implement everything themselves while all the 
> people that did all the real work leave.  What a colossal example of 
> arrogance and overstepping.  I agree with Vladimir Prus except that I 
> wouldn't vote to reelect any of them--including those that have 
> contributed to Boost.  And, no, Niall, having done some good does not 
> make someone above reproach.
>
> Regards,
> Paul Mensonides
>
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