Re: [Boost-users] Boost with mingw creates .lib not .a

From: Aaron W. LaFramboise (aaronrabiddog51_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-01-16 21:55:17

John Arbash Meinel wrote:

> Which is where David Abrahams states that file extensions are based on
> platform and not based on toolset.

For what its worth, this is probably not right.  Extensions reflect file
format, which is dependent on compiler, not operating system.  If
Boost.Build were ported to a Windows compiler that didnt use .lib at
all, it would obviously be wrong for bjam to use that extension.

As a philosophical matter, the closer that MinGW is treated to other GCC
targets, the better (in the long run).  It is my hope that there will be
one day when we won't have a "MinGW," but instead just a GCC for Windows.

Aaron W. LaFramboise