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<h1>Boost Frequently Asked Questions</h1>

<p><strong>How do I download the libraries?</strong>
&nbsp; See <a href=getting_started.html#Download">Download</a> instructions.</p>

<p><b>What support is available for the libraries?</b>&nbsp; The
<a href="mailing_lists.htm#users">Boost-Users mailing list</a> is a good start.</p>

<p><b>What do the Boost version numbers mean?&nbsp; </b>The scheme is x.y.z, where x is incremented only for massive changes, such as a reorganization of many libraries, y is incremented whenever a new library is added, and z is incremented for maintenance releases.  y and z are reset to 0 if
the value to the left changes.&nbsp;<br>
<br>
<b>Is there any assurance libraries actually work as claimed?</b> No. The review
process will hopefully eliminate the most seriously flawed libraries, but a well
constructed library with hidden defects is likely to slip through. Encouraging ordinary
users to report their experience with a library is intended to address such concerns.&nbsp;
See the <a href="../status/compiler_status.html">Status</a> page for an
indication of how well a library works on specific platforms. </p>

<p>
<b>How can the Boost libraries be used successfully for important projects?&nbsp;
</b>Many of the Boost libraries are actively maintained and improved, so backward compatibility with prior version isn't always possible.  Deal with this by freezing the version of the Boost libraries used by your project.  Only upgrade at points in your project's life cycle where a bit of change will not cause problems.  Individual bug fixes can always be obtained from the CVS repository. </p>

<p><b>How is a library accepted for posting on the site?</b>
See <a href="submission_process.htm">Library Submission Process</a></p>

<p><b>How does someone submit a Formal Review comment?</b>&nbsp; Send email to <a
href="mailto:boost@lists.boost.org">boost@lists.boost.org</a>.&nbsp; See the <a href="formal_review_process.htm">Formal
Review</a> page for more information. </p>

<p><strong>How does someone submit a library?</strong> See <a href="lib_guide.htm">Library
Guidelines</a></p>

<p><b>Are commercial libraries requiring a fee acceptable?</b> No. However, a library that
a commercial enterprise makes available without fee is acceptable. If the description of
the library makes a low-key plug for the supplier, that is acceptable as long as the
library delivers real value and isn't just a Trojan horse for the plug.</p>

<p><b>Are shareware libraries acceptable?</b> No. Only free libraries
will be accepted.</p>

<p><strong>Are open source license libraries acceptable?</strong>&nbsp; Some
are, many are not.
Open source licenses often require redistribution or availability of source code,
inclusion of license document with machine-executable redistribution, give the initial
developer rights to licensee modifications, or need a lawyer to understand.&nbsp; These
would be immediate disqualifications for many business, commercial, and consumer
applications. Boost aims to avoid subjecting users to hard-to-comply-with license
terms. See <a href="lib_guide.htm#License">License requirements</a>.<br>
<br>
This is subject to review for a particularly important piece of software, or as the
industry changes.</p>

<p><b>Must full source code be provided?</b> Yes, these are source code libraries.</p>

<p><b>What about documentation?</b> A very simple library might be accepted with only a
well commented header file. For more substantial libraries, some form of documentation is
certainly going to be expected.&nbsp; HTML is the preferred form.</p>

<p><b>Are platform specific libraries acceptable?</b> There is a preference for portable
libraries. Libraries will be accepted that have portable interfaces but require platform
specific implementations, as long as the author supplies implementations for a couple of
disparate major operating systems.</p>

<p><b>Must a library do useful work? </b>No. A library meant as a teaching example or
demonstration might not actually do any work.</p>

<p><b>Can an existing library be accepted by Boost?</b> Yes, although it would
have to be &quot;Boostified&quot; to meet the requirements.&nbsp; The Boost
Graph and Regex libraries are examples of libraries which began life elsewhere.</p>

<p><b>Who owns the libraries?</b> Presumably many authors will copyright their libraries.
Others authors may wish to place their libraries in the public domain. The Boost.org
policy is to only accept libraries with a clear copyright notice and meeting the
<a href="lib_guide.htm#License">License requirements</a>..&nbsp; It is up to
potential users to decide if the terms acceptable, and not to use
libraries with unacceptable copyrights or licenses.</p>

<p><b>Is there a formal relationship between Boost.org and the C++ Standards Committee?</b>
&nbsp;No, although there is a strong informal relationship in that many members
of the committee participate in Boost, and the people who started Boost were all
committee members.</p>

<p><b>Will the Boost.org libraries become part of the next C++ Standard?</b>&nbsp; Some
might, someday, but that is up to the standards committee.&nbsp; Committee
members who also participate in Boost will definitely be proposing at least some
Boost libraries for standardization.</p>

<p>Libraries which are &quot;existing practice&quot; are most likely to be
accepted by the C++ committee for future standardization. Having a library
accepted by Boost is
one way to establish existing practice.</p>

<p><b>Where does the name &quot;Boost&quot; come from?</b> Boost began with
Robert Klarer and me fantasizing about a new library effort over dinner at a C++
committee meeting in Sofia Antipolis, France. Robert mentioned that Herb Sutter
was working on a spoof proposal for a new language named Booze, which was
supposed to be better than Java. Somehow that kicked off the idea of
&quot;Boost&quot; as a name. We'd probably had a couple of glasses of good
French wine at that point. It was just a working name, but no one ever came up
with a replacement. (Beman Dawes)</p>

<p><b>Is the web site a commercial business?</b> No. It is just some people getting together
as a kind of cyberspace civic association. If it ever needs to incorporate, it would be as
non-profit organization.</p>

<p><b>Is there any charge for submitting libraries or reviews to Boost.org?</b> No. Unlike
the standards committees, you don't have to pay to volunteer!</p>

<p><b>Will the site include material beyond libraries?</b> The main focus is on libraries,
but if people contribute occasional articles or other material to make the site more
interesting, that could be a nice fit.</p>

<p><b>Why isn't there a separate boost mailing list for my favorite
library?&nbsp;</b> One of the reasons for boost's success has been the cross-pollination of ideas between diverse library
projects and the occasional look into other threads by otherwise uninterested parties. The more people participate, the less they tend to be annoyed by
"noise".</p>

<p><b>How can I cope with the large volume of boost mailing list messages?</b>&nbsp;
One approach is to use the YahooGroups digest option; that cuts the email blizzard
down to about three (long) messages per day, so you can glance over the subjects
summary at the top and quickly read what you think is important.&nbsp;The
YahooGroups &quot;no mail/web only&quot; option is best if you just occasionally
want to look at messages.</p>

<p>Yet another approach is to use your email program's capabilities to filter messages and automatically
transfer them into several boost folders.&nbsp;Then only read the folders you
care about. Boost list posters are
encouraged to include keywords in the subject like &quot;thread&quot;,
&quot;review&quot;, and &quot;CVS&quot; to aid message filtering.</p>

<p><b>Why do Boost headers have a .hpp suffix rather than .h or none at all?</b>
File extensions communicate the &quot;type&quot; of the file, both to humans and
to computer programs. The '.h' extension is used for C header files, and
therefore communicates the wrong thing about C++ header files. Using no
extension communicates nothing and forces inspection of file contents to
determine type. Using '.hpp' unambiguously identifies it as C++ header file, and
works well in actual practice. (Rainer Deyke)</p>

<p><b>What should I do if I spot a bug in the Boost code or documentation?</b> 
See the suggestions on the <a href="bugs.htm">Bugs page</a>.</p>

<p><b>How can I request a new feature in a Boost Library? </b>See the
<a href="requesting_new_features.htm">Requesting New Features</a> page.</p>

<hr>

<p>Revised <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" S-Type="EDITED" S-Format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->18 April, 2004<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" i-checksum="38549" endspan --></p>

<p>© Copyright Beman Dawes 2001</p>
<p> Use, modification, and distribution are subject to the Boost Software 
License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying file <a href="../LICENSE_1_0.txt">
LICENSE_1_0.txt</a> 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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