[R-pkg-devel] Submitting CRAN packages with hard-to-meet dependencies

[Oliver Keyes]

Good day,

I've written an Rcpp-backed R package
(https://github.com/Ironholds/poster) that interfaces with the
libpostal (https://github.com/openvenues/libpostal) library, written
in C.

While the two play together perfectly nicely, the problem is
submitting the package to CRAN: libpostal is not a common dependency
and isn't available in a debianised form for CRAN's testing: the
alternative approach, including libpostal *in* the R package, is made
impossible since it downloads gigabyte-sized databases for internal
use.

What's the approach or guidance on submitting packages in this state?
The package includes a configuration script that recognises (in a
user-friendly way) when dependencies aren't met, and warns the user
appropriately, but it is still ultimately an R package that will not
compile on CRAN. Can it be submitted, albeit with installation
skipped, or is this unacceptable?

Best,
Oliver