[R] how to install R really *locally*?

[Oliver Kullmann]

Hello,

my first attempt at installing version 2.9.0 failed
because I got an error
"Error in library(pspline) : there is no package called 'pspline'"

Later I realised that this comes from HOME/.RProfil, and removing
that files "solves" that problem.

However, I'm actually glad that this error happened, since it shows
a deeper problem (which is actually not solved yet):
My context is that I re-distribute R as a part of an open-source
library I develop, and this library (actually I call it a "research
environment") installs many things (like R and Maxima, gcc, git, ...),
and this all purely locally --- it shouldn't interfere with anything
the user has installed.

So my question is how can I tell R as installation time that it should
not look at any configuration files or other files whatsoever (so it should
for example ignore HOME/.RProfil)?

The installation instructions mention the variable "rhome", but I don't
understand what type of "home" is meant here. What I could need here
would be a redefinition of the user home-directory (to a local directory
in my installation), but I guess that is not meant with rhome.

Hope somebody can help here.

Oliver