Re: Boost/CMake

From: Boris Kolpackov (boris_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-05-22 06:52:36

Peter Dimov via Boost <boost_at_[hidden]> writes:

> It's interesting that nobody considers the possibility that b2 is in fact a
> better build system than CMake, and consequently, that switching from
> b2 to CMake will actually make things _worse_ in some, if not many,
> respects.

That may be true, but if you took a vote among all the Boost users
asking them which build system Boost should drop, I think it's pretty
clear what the large majority's answer would be.

> There's this axiomatic assumption that dropping b2 will automatically
> improve things, somehow, and I don't think it's true or warranted.

A less obvious benefit of dropping one of the two build systems is
that it frees you up to potentially adopt a forward-looking build
system (or rather build system + package manager toolchain). While
supporting two build systems has its overheads, supporting three
would be untenable.

I guess another way of putting it, what substantial benefit does
b2 provide to Boost that is not provided by CMake or could not be
provided by another build system (that would also provide other
substantial benefits)?