[Rd] R patched & devel versions as portable ZIP files

[Hans W Borchers]

I wonder if it would be possible to provide R patched and development versions
for Windows as simple zip files without using any installers.

There are more and more free and open source software projects providing
such portable versions, among them Python (since V2.5), the new MikTex 2.8,
OpenOffice 3, Firefox and Thunderbird, to name a few. Many smaller Windows
utilities do the same.

When regularly following patched and development version, the installation
procedures and writing into the Windows registry all the time makes me
feel uneasy. And even with the installation procedure there are subsequent
tasks, for example changing the path in the shortcut.

Zip files are much better for those running R from an USB stick because
otherwise you have to install it on the disk---what maybe you don't want to
do---and then copy it over to the stick.

I know there are some concerns with R-(D)COM interface and i assume those using
it know which versions to install.

Thanks
Hans Werner Borchers