----- Mensaje original ----- De: Fernando Cacciola Fecha: Martes, Mayo 3, 2005 6:41 pm Asunto: [Boost-users] The Boost Community

Hello people,

In 1998, Bemans Dawes wrote the "Proposal for a C++ Library Repository Web Site" (you can find the paper in (www.boost.org/more/index.htm), which lunched the Boost we all know and love today. The focus of the site was and is the production of high-quality peer-reviewed C++ libraries. Over the years, Boost grew as a community of experienced C++ developers with the will and means to share their expertise and work contributing to the highly respected Boost Libraries. Today, Boost is a somewhat recongisable part of the C++ programming community at large.

Today, the way I see it, Boost as a community encompases only the boost developers, which are just a fraction of the larger C++ crowd. There are certainly Boost users, but I don't think we can say both developers and users form a community. I think is worth and in-the-spirit to reach out for ALL C++ programmers of ALL LEVELS around an "extended" Boost Community whose main sharing point is not just the submission of high-quality libraries but also the efficient and effective use of the language.

I violently support the creation of such a site :) Let me throw in the following issues: 1. Name of the site. As I see it, it should mention the word "Boost" so as to stand clearly among other C++-devoted sites. Something like "Got Boost" (not that I particularly love this name, but you get the idea.) I propose that we do *not* launch a contest to find the name, lest we end up spending three omnths on the issue like it happend witht he Boost logo. 2. Hosting. Dave Abrahams volunteered to host the site. Is he still holding his offer? 3. Technology. I've been doing a small survey among my workmates and some of them are ardent fans of Plone (www.plone.org), an off-the-shelf community product built on top of a content management system called Zope. I lack direct experience with Plone, but from the info I've been able to gather it supports the following features: * Site structuring using the Zope backend. * News sections. * Forums (with a component called CMF.) * Look&feel tweaking thru CSS. If you want to dig deeper, Zope provides a scripting framework using Python. * Built-in hierarchical database. * User management. * Updating workflow, meaning that everybody can contibrute entries (submitting an HTML doc or with a built-in WYSIWG editor) wiki-style, but we can make these pass thru a moderating filter. * Built-in search. * Open source, free. Preferred deployment platform is Linux, but works on Windows and Mac boxes. As I said, I don't have direct experience with Plone, so if anybody out there does maybe she can assist us on wether this is a suitable product to build the site on. I pass on less tecnhical questions like what kind of content we want to include: IMHO once we have some site prototype set up, it is easier to propose ideas and let the the thing evolve organically, so to speak. Best, Joaquín M López Muñoz Telefónica, Investigación y Desarrollo