[R] R in the NY Times

[Tony Breyal]

“We have customers who build engines for aircraft. I am happy they are
not using freeware when I get on a jet.”

The lady who made this comment, Anne H. Milley, director of technology
product marketing at SAS, has written a response to try and clarify
what she meant (funilly enough, i got this link from a SAS mate of
mine who is now going to have a look into R for the first time):

http://blogs.sas.com/sascom/index.php?/archives/434-This-post-is-rated-R.html


[quote]
"As for open source and my airplane quote …

My remark reflects a key difference between R and SAS, that of
support, reliability, and validation. Customers value SAS for many
things, including our extensive testing, documentation, 24/7 support,
and training. In contrast, the quality of proliferating R packages is
varied and uneven, especially in complex analytical modules. Mistakes
in these packages can lead to misleading results, even for experienced
users.

The airplane comment was meant to point out this key difference. Not
to condemn open source. In fact, SAS values open-source software. Our
software runs on Linux. We use some open-source tools in development.
And we plan to embrace open source further in the future.

The world has many complex problems. We advocate approaches based on
science, on analysis to address these problems. Making more analytic
methods readily available is a good thing. From SAS; from R; from the
resourceful individuals who innovate with their tools of choice,
regardless of the source."
[end quote]



On 7 Jan, 14:50, Marc Schwartz <marc_schwa... at comcast.net> wrote:
> on 01/07/2009 08:44 AM Kevin E. Thorpe wrote:
>
>
>
> > Zaslavsky, Alan M. wrote:
> >> This article is accompanied by nice pictures of Robert and Ross.
>
> >> Data Analysts Captivated by Power of R
> >>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/technology/business-computing/07pro...
>
> >> January 7, 2009 Data Analysts Captivated by R’s Power By ASHLEE VANCE
>
> >> SAS says it has noticed R’s rising popularity at universities,
> >> despite educational discounts on its own software, but it dismisses
> >> the technology as being of interest to a limited set of people
> >> working on very hard tasks.
>
> >> “I think it addresses a niche market for high-end data analysts that
> >> want free, readily available code," said Anne H. Milley, director of
> >> technology product marketing at SAS. She adds, “We have customers who
> >> build engines for aircraft. I am happy they are not using freeware
> >> when I get on a jet.”
>
> > Thanks for posting.  Does anyone else find the statement by SAS to be
> > humourous yet arrogant and short-sighted?
>
> > Kevin
>
> It is an ignorant comment by a marketing person who has been spoon fed
> her lines...it is also a comment being made from a very defensive and
> insecure posture.
>
> Congrats to R Core and the R Community. This is yet another sign of R's
> growth and maturity.
>
> Regards,
>
> Marc Schwartz
>
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