[R] S v. 5

[Prof Brian D Ripley]

On Wed, 30 Jun 1999, John Thaden wrote:

> I asked
> >> Does R, or will R, be integrating the changes to the Chambers/Lucent S
> >> language under their version 5.0?  If not already, then when?
> >
> and Brian Ripley answered,
> >Wait a minute: S is only at version 4, and I doubt if there will be an S
> >version 5 (mutter omega quietly, or look at www.omegahat.org). One issue
> >here is what one is talking about, as Sv4 and S-PLUS 5.x (now 5.1) are none
> >too similar.
> 
> I was asking only about Chambers' et al. S, and I meant to say version 4.

But you did not say so, and gave a version number for a particular
implementation, so those readers without extra-sensory perception did not
know what you meant.  And that `et al' includes MathSoft.

> I really don't give two shakes about S-Plus version 5.x nor S-Plus 2000,
> since MathSoft appears less interested in S language than in their GUI
> commands, which too often have little or no resemblance to S.

You have missed a crucial point: MathSoft have an exclusive licence to S,
so the only version of Lucent's Sv4 available to you (and me) is S-PLUS
5.x. You are saying you have no interest in the only public implementation
of Sv4!

Personally, I think S-PLUS/Mathsoft knocking has no place on R-help. Could
we confine this list to help about R, not opinions on another product about
which you have expressed a lack of interest, let alone opinions about
commercial organizations?

-- 
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272860 (secr)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595

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