Re: [PATCH 04/19] gnu: Add r-bh.

[Ricardo Wurmus <ricardo.wurmus@mdc-berlin.de>]

Vicente Vera <vicentemvp@gmail.com> writes:

> I don't know if the boost package in the distribution could be used to
> comply with the requirements. IMO it is safer to incorporate r-bh as
> it is needed by dplyr.

I took a look at the README file and have come to the conclusion that it
is best to add the package as is rather than trying to wrap the existing
Boost headers.  The section “Updating” states the following:

  We aim to maintain this package in a somewhat conservative fashion and
  do not immediately jump the newest Boost releases. Rather, we start
  from the Debian sources for Boost to ensure that we work with a
  version that is at the same time current yet mature. But on occassion,
  and as needed, we will go directly to Boost releases.

This means that we should treat this like an independent fork as they
don’t necessarily move as fast as our Boost package would.  Also, they
only keep a subset of the Boost headers.  The biggest value in having an
actual R package here is that other R packages that declare a dependency
on Boost headers will be satisfied.

I’m planning to amend the patch today and push it if there are no
objections against this.

~~ Ricardo