Removal of support for stat packages (Omegahat, Stata, others)

[Rodney Sparapani]

> Does anyone still use the Omegahat support that ESS provides?  Not
> having used it in a while, I was recently informed that it's broken on
> the most recent versions of XEmacs.  
> 
> I'd like to remove it from ESS as bit-rot, unless someone is still
> using it (you can reply privately if you want).
> 
> Stata is a similar issue -- Bill Rising's version is better in many
> ways.  While we've talked about integration, no one has had time.
> The current version works only marginally well with Stata 7 and higher
> (note that I used Stata semi-heavily until Stata 7 was released). 
> 
> Right now, as far as I know, we've got in ESS core, package to
> developer:
> 
> R: Kurt, Martin, Rich, Tony, Stephen
> 
> XLispstat: Tony
> 
> S-PLUS: Rich, (?Martin)
> 
> SAS: Rodney, Rich
> 
> Stata : ??
> 
> Omegahat: ??
> 
> iPython (ha, bet you didn't know about that one :-): Tony
> 
BUGS:  Rodney

Tony:

I agree that if we don't have developers interested in supporting a
package, then that support should be dropped.  However, is in there
any hope of recruiting Bill for Stata and somebody else for Omegahat?
If not, then the only problem that I see in dropping support is that
the JCGS article mentions these packages.  So, if dropping is agreed
to, then I'd add the following corrections to the paper:

Key Words:  drop Stata

pg. 2, par. 2:  drop Stata and Omegahat references

pg. 2, last line:  drop "Stata,"

pg. 4, second to last sentence:  drop "and Stata"

pg. 5, par. 2, last sentence:  drop "Stata,"

pg. 12, last paragraph:  drop "Thomas Lumley's ... into ESS."

Table 1:  drop Stata and Omegahat references

pg. 15:  drop Stata and Omegahat references

-- 
Rodney Sparapani              Medical College of Wisconsin
Sr. Biostatistician           Patient Care & Outcomes Research
rsparapa at mcw.edu              http://www.mcw.edu/pcor
Was 'Name That Tune' rigged?  WWLD -- What Would Lombardi Do