[R] Pros and Cons of R

[Ruben Roa Ureta]

> Hi,
>
> I am doing a very informal presentation for my office about R capabilities
> to deal with and analyze spatial data, display data and maps, and
> connections with GIS. I've used in my presentation info from the CRAN, the
> spatial Task view, and the more striking graphics examples from
> http://addictedtor.free.fr/graphiques/thumbs.php and NCEAS
> http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/scicomp/GISSeminar/UseCases/MapProdWithRGraphics/OneMapProdWithRGraphics.html
> together with examples of my own work.
>
> I am finishing with pros and cons about R and I am wondering if you can
> come up with other examples, or comments. Here they are:
>
> Pros:
>
> - R is a programming environment well suited for statistical analysis.
> - R is open source and cross platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux).
> - Fortran, C (C++), and Python wrappers are in place.
> - Deals well with spatial data, has a robust graphical interface and has
> an active user group list / forum.
> - External packages for R are almost daily increasing, most of them based
> on published up-to-date books and peer-reviewed articles.
> - R related books - quite a few ....

I think you should considering adding the quality of support, as
represented by this list and the archives (easily accesible with
RSiteSearch). Not many softwares have their creators and best minds
answering the cries for help from the most humble users (though these
creators and best minds can be rough at times, probably with good
reasons).
Rubén