Re: Boost Foundation, Boost, and the Beman Project

From: Ion Gaztañaga (igaztanaga_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-07-11 20:17:18

El 11/07/2024 a las 17:41, Niall Douglas via Boost escribió:
> On 11/07/2024 16:29, René Ferdinand Rivera Morell wrote:
>>
>> I had the opportunity to chat with one of the contributors to the
>> first release of Boost libraries at the last WG21 meeting. And my
>> impression of the rationale for the foundation of Boost now differs
>> from what appears to be the popular understanding. Boost originally
>> didn't specifically aim to be an avenue for libraries to be adopted
>> into the C++ Standard. The aim was to collect and distribute quality
>> libraries aimed at general C++ developers in a web site. Everything
>> else was just happenstance.
> 
> It could indeed be very fairly argued that WG21 did, for a period,
> prefer to standardise from Boost. And then it stopped doing that.

Beman's original rationale is available for everyone:

https://www.boost.org/users/proposal.pdf

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"A world-wide web site containing a repository of free C++ class 
libraries would be of great benefit to the C++ community. Although other 
sites supply specific libraries or provide links to libraries, there is 
currently no well-known web site that acts as a general repository for 
C++ libraries. The vision is of a site where programmers can find 
libraries they need, post libraries they would like to share, and act as 
a focal point to encourage innovative C++ library development. An online 
peer review process is envisioned to ensure library quality with a 
minimum of bureaucracy.

Secondary goals include encouraging effective programming techniques and 
providing a focal point for C++ programmers to participate in a wider 
community. Additionally, such a site might foster C++ standards activity 
by helping to establish existing practice."

------

So definitely Boost's original goal was not to create libraries for the 
standard, but to be a repository of top-quality C++ libraries.

That's why I explicitly posted in this ML that trying to describe the 
Beman Project as "what Boost was aimed for" is not correct. Each project 
has a different goal.

Best,

Ion