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<h1>Boost Background Information</h1>
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<h2>Why should an organization use Boost?</h2>
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<p>
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-In one word, <i><b>Productivity</b></i>. Use of high-quality libraries like
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+In a word, <i><b>Productivity</b></i>. Use of high-quality libraries like
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Boost speeds initial development, results in fewer bugs,
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reduces reinvention-of-the-wheel, and cuts long-term maintenance costs. And
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since Boost libraries tend to become de facto or de jure standards, many
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@@ -47,32 +47,40 @@ Who's Using Boost page</a> for a sampling. We don't know the exact numbers, but
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a release gets around 100,000 downloads from SourceForge, and that is only one
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of several distribution routes.</p>
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<h2>What do others say about Boost?</h2>
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-<p><a href="http://www.gotw.ca/">Herb Sutter</a> and
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-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Alexandrescu">Andrei Alexandrescu</a>,
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-in <a href="http://safari.awprofessional.com/?XmlId=0321113586">C++ Coding
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-Standards</a>, say <i><b>"...one of the most highly regarded and expertly
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+<p> <i><b>"...one of the most highly regarded and expertly
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designed C++ library projects in the world."</b></i></p>
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-<p><a href="http://www.aristeia.com/">Scott Meyers</a>, in
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-<a href="http://www.awl.com/cseng/titles/0-321-33487-6/">Effective C++, 3rd Ed.</a>,
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-says <b><i>"Item 55: Familiarize yourself with Boost."</i></b></p>
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-<p><a href="http://www.research.att.com/~bs/">Bjarne Stroustrup</a>, in
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-<a href="http://www.research.att.com/~bs/abstraction.pdf">Abstraction,
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-libraries, and efficiency in C++</a>, says: <i><b>"The obvious solution for most
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+ <blockquote>
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+<p>-- <a href="http://www.gotw.ca/">Herb Sutter</a> and
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+<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Alexandrescu">Andrei Alexandrescu</a>,
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+<a href="http://safari.awprofessional.com/?XmlId=0321113586">C++ Coding
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+Standards</a> </p>
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+ </blockquote>
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+<p> <b><i>"Item 55: Familiarize yourself with Boost."</i></b></p>
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+ <blockquote>
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+<p>-- <a href="http://www.aristeia.com/">Scott Meyers</a>,
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+<a href="http://www.awl.com/cseng/titles/0-321-33487-6/">Effective C++, 3rd Ed.</a> </p>
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+ </blockquote>
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+<p> <i><b>"The obvious solution for most
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programmers is to use a library that provides an elegant and efficient
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platform independent to needed services. Examples are BOOST..."</b></i></p>
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+ <blockquote>
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+<p>--<i><b> </b></i><a href="http://www.research.att.com/~bs/">Bjarne Stroustrup</a>,
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+<a href="http://www.research.att.com/~bs/abstraction.pdf">Abstraction,
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+libraries, and efficiency in C++</a> </p>
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+ </blockquote>
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<h2>How do users get support?</h2>
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-<p>For relatively straight-forward support needs, users rely on the
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-<a href="more/mailing_lists.htm">mailing lists and newsgroups</a>. One of the
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-advantages of Boost is the responsiveness of both other users and Boost
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+<p>For relatively straightforward support needs, users rely on the
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+<a href="more/mailing_lists.htm">mailing lists</a>. One of the
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+advantages of Boost is the responsiveness of other users and Boost
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developers.</p>
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<p>For more involved needs, <a href="more/links.htm#Commercial%20Support">
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-Commercial Support</a> is also available.</p>
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+Commercial Support</a> is available.</p>
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<h2>What about license issues?</h2>
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<p>Boost has its own <a href="more/license_info.html">license</a>, developed
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with help from the Harvard Law School. The
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<a href="more/license_info.html">Boost license polices</a> encourage both
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commercial and non-commercial use, and the Boost license is not related to the
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-GPL or other licenses which are sometimes seen as business unfriendly.</p>
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+GPL or other licenses - that are sometimes seen as business unfriendly.</p>
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<h2>What about other intellectual property issues?</h2>
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<p>The Boost libraries tend to be new, fresh, and creative designs. They are not
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copies, clones, or derivations of proprietary libraries. Boost has a firm policy
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@@ -82,13 +90,12 @@ source code has been inspected by many, many knowledgeable programmers. Each
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Boost file has a copyright notice and license information. IP issues have been
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reviewed by the legal teams from some of the corporations which use Boost, and
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in some cases these lawyers have been kind enough to give Boost feedback on IP
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-issues. No guarantees, but those factors all tend to reduce IP risk.</p>
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+issues. There are no guarantees, but those factors all tend to reduce IP risk.</p>
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<h2>Why would anyone give away valuable software for free?</h2>
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-<p>Businesses and other organizations contribute everything from tiny patches up
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-to complete libraries, when doing so is cheaper and/or higher quality than
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-commercial software. This is particularly true for software they have a need
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-for, but don't consider proprietary because it is of a general or utility
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-nature.</p>
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+<p>Businesses and other organizations often prefer to have code developed,
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+maintained, and improved in the open source community when it does not contain
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+technology specific to their application domain, because it allows them to focus
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+more development resources on their core business.</p>
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<p>Individuals contribute for the technical challenge, to hone their technical
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skills, for the sense of community, as part of their graduate school programs,
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as a way around geographic isolation, to enhance their employment opportunities,
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