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+<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
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+<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0">
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+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
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+<title>Boost Background Information</title>
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+</head>
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+
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+<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
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+ <table border="1" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#007f7f">
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+ <tr>
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+ <td bgcolor="#ffffff">
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+ <img src="../../site/boost.png" alt="boost.png (6897 bytes)" width="277" height="86"></td>
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+ <td><a href="../../site/index.htm"><font color="#ffffff" size="4" face="Arial">Home</font></a></td>
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+ <td><a href="../../site/libs/libraries.htm"><font color="#ffffff" size="4" face="Arial">Libraries</font></a></td>
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+ <td><a href="../../site/people/people.htm"><font color="#ffffff" size="4" face="Arial">People</font></a></td>
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+ <td><a href="../../site/more/faq.htm"><font color="#ffffff" size="4" face="Arial">FAQ</font></a></td>
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+ <td><a href="../../site/more/index.htm"><font color="#ffffff" size="4" face="Arial">More</font></a></td>
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+ </tr>
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+ </table>
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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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+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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+programmers are already familiar with them.</p>
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+<p>
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+Ten of the Boost libraries are included in the
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+<a href="http://open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/library_technical_report.html">
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+C++ Standard Library's TR1</a>, and so are slated for later full
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+standardization. More Boost libraries are in the pipeline for
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+<a href="http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2005/n1810.html">TR2</a>.
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+Using Boost libraries gives an organization a head-start in adopting new
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+technologies.</p>
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+<p>
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+Many organization already use programs implemented with
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+Boost, like Adobe <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html">Acrobat
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+Reader 7.0</a>.</p>
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+<h2>Who else is using Boost?</h2>
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+<p>See the <a href="http://boost-sandbox.sourceforge.net/doc/html/who_s_using_boost_.html">
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+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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+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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+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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+<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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+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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+<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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+<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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+to respect the IP rights of others. The development of Boost libraries is
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+publicly documented via the mailing lists and version control repository. The
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+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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+<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>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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+and as advertisements for their consulting services. There are probably as many
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+reasons as there are individuals. Some of the apparently individual
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+contributions come from employees of support companies with contracts from
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+businesses or other organizations who have an interest in seeing that a library
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+is well-maintained.</p>
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+<h2>Who pays Boost's expenses?</h2>
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+<p>Boost doesn't really have any expenses! All the infrastructure is contributed
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+by supporters, such as the <a href="http://www.osl.iu.edu/">Open Systems Lab</a>
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+at Indiana University, <a href="http://sourceforge.net/index.php">
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+SourceForge</a>, <a href="http://www.boost-consulting.com/">Boost Consulting</a>,
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+<a href="http://www.meta-comm.com/">Meta Communications</a>, and the
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+individuals, companies, and other organizations who run the regression tests.
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+Borland, HP, Intel, and Microsoft have contributed compilers. And hundreds, or
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+even thousands, of programmers contribute their time. That's what makes Boost
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+possible.</p>
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+ <hr>
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+ <p>
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+ Revised
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+ <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" s-type="EDITED"
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+s-format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->07 July, 2005<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="21138" --></p>
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+ <p>
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+ © Copyright Beman Dawes 2005.</p>
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+ <p>
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+ Use, modification, and distribution are subject to the Boost Software License,
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+ Version 1.0. (See accompanying file
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+ <a href="../../site/LICENSE_1_0.txt">LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>
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+ or copy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt">www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)</p>
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+
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+</body>
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+
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+</html>
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Beman Dawes