Gennaro Prota wrote: > I would *love* to see boost becoming a charity-ware collection of > libraries. The idea is that we choose a list of associations and > bodies, and set up a mechanism, through the boost site or another > site, where download is possible only by making a donation to one of > the associations. That would be the only condition and the software > would be of course free to use, copy and modify.
I am unreservedly opposed, no matter which charities are selected. It is not that I am anti-charity. Quite the contrary. But I believe mixing the two contradicts boost purpose. Boost is about excellence of production ready libaries made freely available to the C++ community, with one eye towards the next standard. Its primary concern is to serve the C++ community and anything that gets in the way of that acceptance should be treated with great skepticism. Aligning with charities, any charity no matter how noble, brings you dangerously close to the world of politics where perfect good products can be (and are) rejected purely by association. Charity to feed the third world? You're propping up dictatorships that would otherwise collapse "Save the Children"? How about all those innocent parents hounded by mis-accusations Let's not even get involved with the commercial conflict when charities start opposing various technologies such as land mines or GM crops. I see no benefit to boost in forging such a link, and potential for significant harm on the edges of the community. I feel like the Grinch stealing Christmas coming out so strongly against something that is doubtless well motivated, and proposed by someone far more active in the community than myself, but see to much potential harm for it to pass without comment. -- AlisdairM _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost
