[R] R "sumo" package suggestion

[Liaw, Andy]

Good idea, IMHO, but there are some practical difficulties:

I guess the XEmacs packages are (most, if not all) pure elisp code, and do
not need other stuff to work.  However, quite a few CRAN packages depend on
external libraries or programs, and do not necessarily work on all platforms
that R runs on.  How would such dependencies be resolved in such a kitchen
sink bundle?

I have a somewhat related idea:  Start labelling packages with a set of
pre-defined categories, and a package can be labelled with more than one
categories (especially those *misc type packages).  It is then possible to
have facility to let people install all packages that fall in a particular
category (e.g., `spatial statistics').  I believe several systems have such
facilities, Debian being one of them, TeXLive being another.

Just my $0.02...

Andy

> From: Rodney Sparapani
> 
> r-help:
> 
> I have an R package suggestion.  After spending
> several hours the other day installing about a dozen
> packages, I had an idea.  In xemacs, there is a
> "sumo" package which allows me to install a large
> bundle of xemacs packages at one time (about a 120
> modes including ESS).  I think R should have a 
> similar bundle.  It would be so much easier than
> hunting/downloading/installing.  Martin encouraged 
> me to send this suggestion to r-help.  In addition, 
> he put together a few comments relating to the previous 
> times that this, or a similar suggestion, has been 
> brought up here.
> 
> Martin wrote:
> 
> If you search for "install all CRAN packages"
> on
> 	http://maths.newcastle.edu.au/~rking/R/
> 
> (the URL which is quickly found from the [Search] sidebar of
> http://www.R-project.org/) 
> 
> You find things like Greg Warnes 'Makefile'    
> http://tolstoy.newcastle.edu.au/R/help/04/04/0723.html
> and
> http://tolstoy.newcastle.edu.au/R/help/04/04/0616.html
> which is from Tony and has the following small function:
> 
>   installNewCRANPackages <- function() {
>     ## (C) A.J. Rossini, 2002--2004
>     test2 <- packageStatus()$avail["Status"]
>     
> install.packages(row.names(test2)[which(test2$Status=="not 
> installed")])
>   }
> 
> ----------
> 
> 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
> 
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