[R] R on gentoo amd64 (gcc 3.3.3) is unstable

[ivo_welch-rstat8783@mailblocks.com]

dear wizards:

  FYI: gentoo is a linux meta distribution, which compiles all packages. 
  Once running, gentoo is stable on most applications.  (it has some 
problems with system tools, such as grub.)  the compiler is gcc 3.3.3.  
I do not expect anyone to track down for me why R fails on the gentoo 
amd64+gcc3.3.3 system, but I thought that it would be good to put it on 
the record to save others some time.

The resulting from-source-compiled R is not stable in this combination. 
  R starts up ok, but a couple of commands (a simple linear regression) 
usually result in a Segfault.  this applies both to the R provided by 
gentoo (an old version of 1.9.0) or the latest version 1.9.1 which I 
just pulled down.  in case someone is wondering, the debugger backtrace 
provides

#0  0x000000000052ac16 in dnrm2_ ()
#1  0x00000000005185e8 in dqrdc2_ ()
#2  0x0000000000518db1 in dqrls_ ()
#3  0x000000000045d5d5 in do_dotCode ()
#4  0x0000000000472b6b in Rf_eval ()
...

(if any R wizard were to find it useful to try it out for himself, I 
could arrange for machine access, or provide other relevant 
information.  if anyone has compiled R 1.9.1 under amd64 with gcc 3.3.3 
and found it to be stable, please let me know, too.)

sincerely,

/ivo welch

---
ivo welch
professor of finance and economics
brown / nber / yale