[R] Cannot read or write to file in Linux Ubuntu

[John]

On Thu, 3 May 2012 10:50:46 -0800
John Kane <jrkrideau at inbox.com> wrote:

> Thanks Jeff and Sarah.  
> 
> I was thinking mainly of using the base path and paste routine which
> is something I do in Windows  
> 
> It will take me a while to figrue out relative paths.  
> 
Relative paths are not a mystery nor are they solely an aspect of linux.
They are in fact the norm in DOS and Windows as well as in Linux or
any other file system that use a "tree" structure. Since Windows
constrains you to a graphic interface, when using the file manager, you
see the default use of relative paths without recognizing the
behaviour.  

When opening or saving a file in Windows, the system will often offer
you the choice of 'save, or 'save as' and if you mistakenly use 'save'
from the wrong working directory, you may well have a files written
other than where you thought it was.  This problem is so common that
Windows users tend to take it in stride and have developed habits that
limit the aggravation.  You do not have those habits for Linux yet.

Until you are more comfortable in Linux you might want to run RStudio
while using R.  The learning curve of a new OS as well as
different details in simply using the computer interface is quite
challenging.  

JWDougherty