[R] Linux R version: best?

[Marc Schwartz]

On Sep 10, 2009, at 4:33 PM, Steve Lianoglou wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On Sep 10, 2009, at 4:47 PM, S. Few wrote:
>
>> For my Redhat 5.2 Linux box, which version of R would be most stable?
>>
>> I am doing forecasting, statistics, etc.
>
> I believe the conventional wisdom is to always download the latest  
> version ... and also, typically, update your current version to the  
> latest version when it's released.

I would just add that the current version available in a binary RPM  
for RHEL 5.x on CRAN is 2.9.2 and the current binary RPM available via  
the EPEL (https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/EPEL) is 2.9.1. I would  
expect to see 2.9.2 on the EPEL soon.

Unlike server operating systems such as RHEL, which have a long multi- 
year support window, most applications do not. R's life cycle is such  
that support (bug fixes, patches, etc.) for released versions is  
essentially limited to the current release. So there are strong  
motivations, as Steve noted, to stay up to date as new R versions are  
released.

HTH,

Marc Schwartz

P.S. to Steve L, I just noted your e-mail address...LOL