Re: [Boost-users] Re: You provide gun, I provide foot.

From: Jeff Garland (jeff_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-04-10 11:02:30

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:30:25 -0400, C. Michailidis wrote
>
> I've been making a stink largely because (IMHO) the decision to NOT 
> expose functionality as fundamental as mutex.lock() and 
> mutex.unlock() seems ridiculous!  The boost library and accompanying 
> docs should absolutely encourage the use of scoped_locks - I agree 
> 100%.  But it certainly shouldn't *disallow* me from using mutexes 
> in the traditional way - to me this is a shortcoming.  Even if there 
> is some kind of overly complicated way (perhaps by deriving from 
> mutex and calling some protected lock/unlock methods) I still think 
> lock/unlock functionality should be exposed by mutex objects.
> 
> Did you ever hear of the expression "you've polished the brass right 
> off of the hinges"?  This honestly seems like arrogance on the boost 
> development team's part - why do they know how to use mutexes so 
> much better than the rest of us?  What am I, chopped liver over 
> here?  It is belittling!
> 
> I'm not a child, whaaaaa!!!! ;-)
> 
> There is little sense in going to such extreme lengths to protect 
> developers from themselves - after all they are the ones writing the 
> programs!  Believe me, I would love to live to see the day that I 
> simply install the Boost libraries and BINGO by some stroke of 
> genius the program I intended to write is already done.  I have a 
> feeling it will be some time before this happens, until then my gun 
> should shoot bullets wherever I point it, and I should be allowed to 
> point it wherever I want (not where the boost developers THINK it 
> should be pointed, but where I KNOW it should be pointed).
> 
> As they say, "guns don't kill people, people kill people", lol.
> 
> soap_box->unlock();
> 
> Just my 2 cents,

Whining won't take you far on this list, sorry.  Call it arrogance, call it
indifference, whatever -- don't forget that Boost authors have volunteered
enormous amounts of their own time.  Seriously, you have the boost source, if
you don't like the implementation of something in threads go change it and
propose it.  Or just use it for yourself. That will get you much further than
soapbox grandstanding any day...

BTW, I think the question of what to expose was discussed in the library
review, so you might search back thru the mailing lists.  Also you should know
that the original threads author has disappeared and the new maintainer is
pretty busy -- so I'd say threads is somewhat undersupported at the moment... 

Jeff