[R] installing R on Ubuntu

[Michael Dewey]

At 07:58 09/02/2009, Thomas Lumley wrote:
>On Sun, 8 Feb 2009, Tom Backer Johnsen wrote:
>
>>Dirk Eddelbuettel wrote:
>>>On 8 February 2009 at 20:36, Tom Backer Johnsen wrote:
>>>| Dear me.  Is the installation of R under Ubuntu really that 
>>>complex?  I | have a dual boot machine (Linux / Windows, where I 
>>>use the latter the | most) and have plans to try R under Linux, 
>>>but have not done so yet.  Is | it possible to simplify the Linux 
>>>install procedure to make R more | accessible to novices?
>>>Yes. 'sudo apt-get install r-base ess ggobi' and you have working R, ESS and
>>>Ggobi.  Start Emacs, type 'M-x R' and you have an R session inside Emacs.
>>>Is that really easier to accomplish in Windows?
>>
>>No.  If it is that simple to install R under a Debian vaiant of 
>>Linux, it definitely is easier.  On the other hand, using Emacs is 
>>not (as far as I know) the thing for novices.  What I would prefer 
>>is something that is as simple to use as the Windows (or even 
>>better, the Mac interface) for R.

Tom,

For what it is worth
1 - as a long term Windows user and complete Linux novice I found the 
process on Linux (using the Debian pages at CRAN and the r-sig-debian 
help list as an instruction set) fairly straightforward. Some things 
are easier, some harder.
2 - if all you want is a simple editor with syntax highlighting and 
the ability to pipe commands to the running R then you could consider 
Kate which you may already have. It is of course also much more 
powerful than that but you can effortlessly ignore the powerful bits. 
Plus Kate is a cute name.



>You might like JGR, then. http://jgr.markushelbig.org/JGR.html
>
>      -thomas
>
>Thomas Lumley                   Assoc. Professor, Biostatistics
>tlumley at u.washington.edu        University of Washington, Seattle
>
>

Michael Dewey
http://www.aghmed.fsnet.co.uk