Comment 2 for bug 523858

This is an excerpt from the NEWS.Debian file in the package for libboost-python 1.39.0-1:

Boost 1.39.0-1
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  * Since only one (the multi-threaded) variant of each library is built,
    upstream elected to simplify the library name by removing the
    redundant "-mt" decoration. Debian will follow this convention, to
    remain compatible at link time with other vendors. The preferred form
    of the link option is now "-lboost_regex", etc.

  * In response to the Debian 1.37 package, a number of boost-using
    packages changed their build system to add "-mt"; see entry below. To
    avoid breaking all these packages, Debian is providing compatibility
    symlinks with the "-mt" decoration; e.g. "-lboost_regex-mt" continues
    to work. However, note that this name is not compatible with other
    distributions, so build-system authors are encouraged to use the
    undecorated name.