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<title>Boost Background Information</title>
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<td bgcolor="#ffffff">
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<img src="../boost.png" alt="boost.png (6897 bytes)" width="277" height="86"></td>
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<td><a href="../index.htm"><font color="#ffffff" size="4" face="Arial">Home</font></a></td>
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<td><a href="../libs/libraries.htm"><font color="#ffffff" size="4" face="Arial">Libraries</font></a></td>
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<td><a href="../people/people.htm"><font color="#ffffff" size="4" face="Arial">People</font></a></td>
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<td><a href="../more/faq.htm"><font color="#ffffff" size="4" face="Arial">FAQ</font></a></td>
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<td><a href="../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 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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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="../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> <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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<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 straightforward support needs, users rely on the
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<a href="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="links.htm#CommercialSupport">
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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="license_info.html">license</a>, developed
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with help from the Harvard Law School. The
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<a href="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 - 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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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. 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 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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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/">MetaCommunications</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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<20> 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="../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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</body>
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