Re: [Boost-build] [boost] [1.35.0] Threads - build failure using gcc on Win XP

From: Roland Schwarz (roland.schwarz_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-04-18 03:10:39

Mat Marcus wrote:
> For example, why is it necessary to view cygwin as an OS in the boost
> thread jamfile? 

Because a user should have the choice to either build for
cygwin (i.e. link against cygwindll) or link against msvc runtime.

To me (and other as I have seen so far) the most reasonable thing to
accomplish this is to specify either target-os=windows or target-os=cygwin.

Now think about the defaults, i.e. where you can omit explicit
specification. I believe when on cygwin bash the default target-os
should be cygwin, and on cmd it should be windows. This is also the
current default as set by builtin.jam.

Consequently you _need_ to specify the target-os when not using
defaults. (Your setup adds yet another level of complexity since you
are trying to invoke msvc jam from cygwin bash.)

If you think that the current defaults are wrong, please tell why,
_and_ tell how they should be.

Also to streamline the discussion I recommend to present it in a
matrix form (as in my other post) since our discussion gets harder
and harder to read.

> That is, why isn't it possible to determine default
> choices for threadapi by dispatching on the toolset perhaps together
> with something like the <toolset-gcc:flavor> property? 

Beacuse there is an chicken egg-problem as I tried to point out in an
other post. The flavor property currently depends on which switch you
supplied to invocation of gcc.

>I'd like to see
> a system where Jamfile authors had sufficient resources from the build
> system to avoiding depending on who compiled the built tool or even
> which shell is in use. 

Me too.

> What, if anything, is currently missing?

Maybe the same as me. I was in a similar situation as you more than a
year ago. My "shy" requests to improve on the situation went by almost
unheard. Now that I settled out and learned boost-build and better
understand the issues, I find myself in the funny situation of feeling
being accused for something I am not responsible for.

Mat if you like we together can try to make a better world. I am sure
Rene and Voldya will appreciate our effort.

Roland

-- 
_________________________________________
  _  _  | Roland Schwarz
 |_)(_  | aka. speedsnail
 | \__) | mailto:roland.schwarz_at_[hidden]
________| http://www.blackspace.at