[R] Can't there be a cd command?

[Prof Brian Ripley]

On Wed, 10 May 2006, Peter Dalgaard wrote:

> "Issac Trotts" <issac.trotts at gmail.com> writes:
>
>> I'm on Linux, so it didn't occur to me to look in the Windows FAQ
>> until it came up in the Google search.  Why should Windows users be
>> the only ones who learn how to change directories?
>
> Well, on Linux et al., the normal mode of operation is to start R from
> the commmand line in the directory where you want to be. On Windows
> you start from a desktop icon or a menu entry, which implies that
> you're always in the same directory, and usually the wrong one.

Exactly.  I don't think I have ever used setwd() on Linux.

Also, I have never seen this asked before for a Unix-alike, so it seems 
not to be a >F<AQ.  There is a common tendency for users who run into a 
problem to think everyone does too, and it isn't necessarily so.
Frequently asked questions do make it to the FAQs: it is a defence 
mechanism for the volunteers supporting R.

help.search("directory")  gets you there.

-- 
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595