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24<h1>Boost Frequently Asked Questions</h1>
25
26<p><strong>How do I download the libraries?</strong>
27&nbsp; See <a href="getting_started.html#Download">Download</a> instructions.</p>
28
29<p><b>What support is available for the libraries?</b>&nbsp; The
30<a href="mailing_lists.htm#users">Boost-Users mailing list</a> is a good start.</p>
31
32<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
33the value to the left changes.&nbsp;<br>
34<br>
35<b>Is there any assurance libraries actually work as claimed?</b> No. The review
36process will hopefully eliminate the most seriously flawed libraries, but a well
37constructed library with hidden defects is likely to slip through. Encouraging ordinary
38users to report their experience with a library is intended to address such concerns.&nbsp;
39See the <a href="../status/compiler_status.html">Status</a> page for an
40indication of how well a library works on specific platforms. </p>
41
42<p>
43<b>How can the Boost libraries be used successfully for important projects?&nbsp;
44</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>
45
46<p><b>How is a library accepted for posting on the site?</b>
47See <a href="submission_process.htm">Library Submission Process</a></p>
48
49<p><b>How does someone submit a Formal Review comment?</b>&nbsp; Send email to <a
50href="mailto:boost@lists.boost.org">boost@lists.boost.org</a>.&nbsp; See the <a href="formal_review_process.htm">Formal
51Review</a> page for more information. </p>
52
53<p><strong>How does someone submit a library?</strong> See <a href="lib_guide.htm">Library
54Guidelines</a></p>
55
56<p><b>Are commercial libraries requiring a fee acceptable?</b> No. However, a library that
57a commercial enterprise makes available without fee is acceptable. If the description of
58the library makes a low-key plug for the supplier, that is acceptable as long as the
59library delivers real value and isn't just a Trojan horse for the plug.</p>
60
61<p><b>Are shareware libraries acceptable?</b> No. Only free libraries
62will be accepted.</p>
63
64<p><strong>Are open source license libraries acceptable?</strong>&nbsp; Some
65are, many are not.
66Open source licenses often require redistribution or availability of source code,
67inclusion of license document with machine-executable redistribution, give the initial
68developer rights to licensee modifications, or need a lawyer to understand.&nbsp; These
69would be immediate disqualifications for many business, commercial, and consumer
70applications. Boost aims to avoid subjecting users to hard-to-comply-with license
71terms. See <a href="lib_guide.htm#License">License requirements</a>.<br>
72<br>
73This is subject to review for a particularly important piece of software, or as the
74industry changes.</p>
75
76<p><b>Must full source code be provided?</b> Yes, these are source code libraries.</p>
77
78<p><b>What about documentation?</b> A very simple library might be accepted with only a
79well commented header file. For more substantial libraries, some form of documentation is
80certainly going to be expected.&nbsp; HTML is the preferred form.</p>
81
82<p><b>Are platform specific libraries acceptable?</b> There is a preference for portable
83libraries. Libraries will be accepted that have portable interfaces but require platform
84specific implementations, as long as the author supplies implementations for a couple of
85disparate major operating systems.</p>
86
87<p><b>Must a library do useful work? </b>No. A library meant as a teaching example or
88demonstration might not actually do any work.</p>
89
90<p><b>Can an existing library be accepted by Boost?</b> Yes, although it would
91have to be &quot;Boostified&quot; to meet the requirements.&nbsp; The Boost
92Graph and Regex libraries are examples of libraries which began life elsewhere.</p>
93
94<p><b>Who owns the libraries?</b> Presumably many authors will copyright their libraries.
95Others authors may wish to place their libraries in the public domain. The Boost.org
96policy is to only accept libraries with a clear copyright notice and meeting the
97<a href="lib_guide.htm#License">License requirements</a>..&nbsp; It is up to
98potential users to decide if the terms acceptable, and not to use
99libraries with unacceptable copyrights or licenses.</p>
100
101<p><b>Is there a formal relationship between Boost.org and the C++ Standards Committee?</b>
102&nbsp;No, although there is a strong informal relationship in that many members
103of the committee participate in Boost, and the people who started Boost were all
104committee members.</p>
105
106<p><b>Will the Boost.org libraries become part of the next C++ Standard?</b>&nbsp; Some
107might, someday, but that is up to the standards committee.&nbsp; Committee
108members who also participate in Boost will definitely be proposing at least some
109Boost libraries for standardization.</p>
110
111<p>Libraries which are &quot;existing practice&quot; are most likely to be
112accepted by the C++ committee for future standardization. Having a library
113accepted by Boost is
114one way to establish existing practice.</p>
115
116<p><b>Where does the name &quot;Boost&quot; come from?</b> Boost began with
117Robert Klarer and I fantasizing about a new library effort over dinner at a C++
118committee meeting in Sofia Antipolis, France, in 1998. Robert mentioned that Herb Sutter
119was working on a spoof proposal for a new language named Booze, which was
120supposed to be better than Java. Somehow that kicked off the idea of
121&quot;Boost&quot; as a name. We'd probably had a couple of glasses of good
122French wine at that point. It was just a working name, but no one ever came up
123with a replacement. (Beman Dawes)</p>
124
125<p><b>Is the web site a commercial business?</b> No. It is just some people getting together
126as a kind of cyberspace civic association. If it ever needs to incorporate, it would be as
127a
128non-profit organization.</p>
129
130<p><b>Is there any charge for submitting libraries or reviews to Boost.org?</b> No. Unlike
131the standards committees, you don't have to pay to volunteer!</p>
132
133<p><b>Will the site include material beyond libraries?</b> The main focus is on libraries,
134but if people contribute occasional articles or other material to make the site more
135interesting, that could be a nice fit.</p>
136
137<p><b>Why isn't there a separate boost mailing list for my favorite
138library?&nbsp;</b> One of the reasons for boost's success has been the cross-pollination of ideas between diverse library
139projects and the occasional look into other threads by otherwise uninterested parties. The more people participate, the less they tend to be annoyed by
140"noise".</p>
141
142<p><b>How can I cope with the large volume of boost mailing list messages?</b>&nbsp;
143One approach is to use the &quot;digest&quot; option; that cuts the email blizzard
144down to several (long) messages per day, so you can glance over the subjects
145summary at the top and quickly read what you think is important.&nbsp;The&nbsp; &quot;no
146mail&quot; option turns off list email entirely.</p>
147
148<p>Another approach is to follow the list traffic via an NTTP newsgroup reader.
149See <a href="mailing_lists.htm#newsgroup">Mailing List</a> newsgroup
150information.</p>
151
152<p><b>Why do Boost headers have a .hpp suffix rather than .h or none at all?</b>
153File extensions communicate the &quot;type&quot; of the file, both to humans and
154to computer programs. The '.h' extension is used for C header files, and
155therefore communicates the wrong thing about C++ header files. Using no
156extension communicates nothing and forces inspection of file contents to
157determine type. Using '.hpp' unambiguously identifies it as C++ header file, and
158works well in actual practice. (Rainer Deyke)</p>
159
160<p><b>What should I do if I spot a bug in the Boost code or documentation?</b> 
161See the suggestions on the <a href="bugs.htm">Bugs page</a>.</p>
162
163<p><b>How can I request a new feature in a Boost Library? </b>See the
164<a href="requesting_new_features.htm">Requesting New Features</a> page.</p>
165
166<hr>
167
168<p>Revised <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" S-Type="EDITED" S-Format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->23 June, 2005<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" i-checksum="19916" endspan --></p>
169
170<p>© Copyright Beman Dawes 2001</p>
171<p>
172      Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See
173      accompanying file <a href="../LICENSE_1_0.txt">LICENSE_1_0.txt</a> or copy
174      at <a href=
175      "http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)
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