Stefan Seefeld wrote:
Ideally, Boost would be componentized to the point where it would be easy to enumerate Boost.Python's dependencies not on header files but on projects.
Boost is already componentized to such a point. Read the dependency report. It lists the libraries on which Boost.Python depends.
Unfortunately, so far there is absolutely no guarantee that any Boost release N+1 is backward compatible with release N. I believe that it is more than time for Boost to strive for backward compatibility, and to make it very clear whenever any API-level incompatibilities are introduced, so users can adjust.
The way we currently guarantee that Boost release N+1 is backward compatible with Boost release N with respect to Boost.Python is by running the tests of Boost.Python against other libraries in release N+1 before release. If you pull Boost.Python out of the Boost release procedure, nobody is going to run the tests of Boost.Python against N+1 before N+1 is released, and regressions will not be caught. This is not the first time I'm saying this, I believe. There must be some sort of a misunderstanding.