[R] R, S, S-Plus, whence comes thy name?

[John Sorkin]

I appeal to those entrusted with the keeping of the R flame, the S flame, and the S-Plus flame to relate a bit of history. How did S, S-Plus, and R get their names? Going from S to S-Plus appears clear, a commercial company purchased rights to S, developed a product that they wanted to indicate was related to S, but was more fully developed. This leaves me with only a rumor how S got its original name and how R got its name. Some sources suggest that R is named after Robert Gentleman and Ross Ihaka the titans who gave birth to R. The origin of the name S is less clear. Citations would be appreciated, so to would statements from the titans from the days of yore. 
Thank you,
John


John David Sorkin M.D., Ph.D.
Chief, Biostatistics and Informatics
University of Maryland School of Medicine Division of Gerontology
Baltimore VA Medical Center
10 North Greene Street
GRECC (BT/18/GR)
Baltimore, MD 21201-1524
(Phone) 410-605-7119
(Fax) 410-605-7913 (Please call phone number above prior to faxing)

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