Re: [boost] b2 --exec-prefix=...

Subject: Re: [boost] b2 --exec-prefix=...
From: Gavin Lambert (boost_at_[hidden])
Date: 2019-01-09 04:08:11

On 20/12/2018 05:40, stefan wrote:
> I believe $exec_prefix is a relict of the past, so I'd suggest we remove 
> it, given that it wasn't ever working.

I believe at some point the intended install patterns for "b2 install" 
were to mirror /usr and /usr/local which could have

   /usr/include/*    - shared include files
   /usr/arch1/lib/*  - lib files for arch1 (eg. x86)
   /usr/arch2/lib/*  - lib files for arch2 (eg. amd64)

So you could compile with different exec prefixes for each architecture 
and get a merged result at the end.

However actual multiarch implementation has (as I understand it) settled 
on the layout being the other way around:

   /usr/include/*    - shared include files
   /usr/lib/arch1/*  - lib files for arch1 (eg. i386-linux-gnu)
   /usr/lib/arch2/*  - lib files for arch2 (eg. x86_64-linux-gnu)

(And there are some other variations as well, such as lib vs. lib64, 
just to be extra confusing; often distribution-specific.)

So it's probably not useful as currently defined, and best left to the 
packagers to figure out. :)