On Sun, 28 Dec 2003, Tom Weber wrote:
Hello, I downloaded boost today so regard me as a newbie. Boost seems great, but the documentation doesn't mention how I should install boost on my system (redhat 9), and how to link against the built libraries. Sure I can include it in every project (though it's huge!), and make the makefiles link into strange locations such as libs/test/build/bin/libboost_unit_test_framework.a/gcc/debug/runtime-link-static/threading-single/libboost_unit_test_framework.a
Is there an easier way?
Most Boost libraries don't even require that you build anything explicitly; all code is in the headers.
Why aren't packages like boost-[devel-]VERSION.PLATFORM.rpm made?
We don't have a maintainer interested in making these packages for each release. If such a maintainer materializes, we'd of course be glad to release RPMs as well.
Why aren't all built libraries put in the same directory, with a simple path name?
It's because Boost.Jam is intended to be able to build a project for many compilers/configurations simultaneously. In 1.31.0, we will have a much better solution for this that will put all built libraries into the same directory (and handles automatic linking on on some platforms/compilers).
Why isn't the thread library built statically? Is putting a "lib" section with BOOST_THREAD_BUILD_STATIC=1 in the Jamfile a legal fix? (seems to work)
The Thread lib must be build as a dynamic library. I don't know the specifics, but I believe is has something to do with thread-specific storage initialization or cleanup.
Also... I think boost should have a network library. Can anyone recommend a platform-independent network library?
We think so two, and there's one in the design stage: http://www.crystalclearsoftware.com/cgi-bin/boost_wiki/wiki.pl?BoostSocket I don't know any good alternatives. Perhaps ACE? Doug