[R-pkg-devel] package CatDataAnalysis

Sun Jun 28 19:58:15 CEST 2020

CRAN did not just ask for an expanded Description field.  They instructed
"Tell the users what the datasets are about and what they contain so they
can use them even when they haven't read your book".  AFAIK no CRAN package
that goes with a book satisfies that.

On Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 12:52 PM Max Turgeon <Max.Turgeon using umanitoba.ca>
wrote:

> Fair enough. But CRAN is clearly asking for a more detailed Description
> field. I simply offered one suggestion for expanding it. Keep in mind
> that users will typically see the DESCRIPTION file first, and not the help
> pages.
>
>
> Max Turgeon
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Statistics
> Department of Computer Science
> University of Manitoba
> maxturgeon.ca
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Charles Geyer <charlie using stat.umn.edu>
> *Sent:* June 28, 2020 12:48:06 PM
> *To:* Max Turgeon
> *Cc:* R Package Development
> *Subject:* Re: [R-pkg-devel] package CatDataAnalysis
>
> *Caution:* This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.
> The link to Alan's web site is on every help page (in the source
> section).  That's where the source is supposed to be.
>
> I have no problem with adding the source to the DESCRIPTION file, but that
> is not what CRAN asked me to do.
>
> On Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 12:16 PM Max Turgeon <Max.Turgeon using umanitoba.ca>
> wrote:
>
>> For what it's worth, I'd be inclined to interpreting CRAN's response
>> *very* literally, i.e. your Description field is not descriptive enough.
>> According to what I can see in the Github repo, you only have
>>
>>
>> "Datasets used in the book Categorical Data Analysis by Agresti but not
>> printed in the book."
>>
>>
>> Which is not much more than what the Title field says. One glaring
>> omission (IMO) from the Description field is any mention of Agresti's
>> website, where the data comes from.
>>
>>
>> In contrast, looking at the "woolridge" package, I can see from the
>> Description field that it contains 111 datasets (well, that's in the Title
>> field), it's about econometrics, and the purpose of the package is to make
>> it easier for students to work with these datasets.
>>
>>
>> Max Turgeon
>> Assistant Professor
>> Department of Statistics
>> Department of Computer Science
>> University of Manitoba
>> maxturgeon.ca
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:* R-package-devel <r-package-devel-bounces using r-project.org> on
>> behalf of Charles Geyer <charlie using stat.umn.edu>
>> *Sent:* June 28, 2020 11:38 AM
>> *To:* Neal Fultz
>> *Cc:* R Package Development
>> *Subject:* Re: [R-pkg-devel] package CatDataAnalysis
>>
>> ********************************************************
>> Caution: This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba.
>> ********************************************************
>>
>> Actually the wooldridge package does not seem to satisfy any of the
>> specific requests CRAN asked me for.  I have checked several other CRAN
>> packages for textbooks and they don't seem to satisfy those requirements
>> either.  So this seems to be a new idea from CRAN.
>>
>> On Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 11:32 AM Neal Fultz <nfultz using gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > I'm not sure exactly what cran is asking for, but the wooldridge
>> > package is a good example of a text book data set package, so maybe
>> > you can use the same format they did.
>> >
>> > https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/wooldridge/index.html
>> >
>> > Best,
>> >
>> > Neal
>> >
>> > On Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 9:08 AM Charles Geyer <charlie using stat.umn.edu>
>> > wrote:
>> > >
>> > > I have a package that has the datasets for Categorical Data Analysis
>> by
>> > > Agresti that do not appear in the book.  The whole package is a github
>> > repo
>> > > https://github.com/cjgeyer/CatDataAnalysis.  All of the data were
>> > > translated mechanically using the R script foo.R included in the repo
>> > (but
>> > > not in the package) from Agresti's web site
>> > > http://www.stat.ufl.edu/~aa/cda/data.html.
>> > >
>> > > This package seems to be a useful service to students and teachers.
>> The
>> > > data
>> > > are much simpler to use with this package than trying to get the data
>> > from
>> > > Agresti's web page (foo.R has 277 lines of code).
>> > >
>> > > When I submitted the package to CRAN, I got the following response.
>> > >
>> > > > The Description field of the DESCRIPTION file is intended to be a
>> (one
>> > > > paragraph) description of what the package does and why it may be
>> > > > useful. Please elaborate. Tell the users what the datasets are about
>> > and
>> > > > what they contain so they can use them even when they haven't read
>> your
>> > > > book.
>> > >
>> > > > Please fix and resubmit, and document what was changed in the
>> > submission
>> > > > comments.
>> > >
>> > > In an alternate universe without copyright law this seems a reasonable
>> > > request.  In this universe it seems to be asking for trouble.  I know
>> > about
>> > > fair use, but I am not a lawyer and do not want to walk the borderline
>> > > between fair use and copyright violation.
>> > >
>> > > The package as it is seems OK because it comes from the author's
>> public
>> > web
>> > > site and these data were never in the book.
>> > >
>> > > Please note that I made Alan Agresti (with his acquiescence) the
>> author
>> > of
>> > > the package because it is his book and his data, but I (or rather
>> foo.R)
>> > > did all the work.
>> > >
>> > > I replied to cran.r-project.org, but that was apparently sent to
>> > /dev/null.
>> > >
>> > > This book is IMHO the authoritative textbook on the subject.  Amazon
>> > sales
>> > > rank agrees.  The book is used for many courses.  So this package
>> would
>> > be
>> > > very helpful as is to many students and teachers.
>> > >
>> > > So what to do?  Is there any way to get this package on CRAN?
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > Charles Geyer
>> > > Professor, School of Statistics
>> > > Resident Fellow, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science
>> > > University of Minnesota
>> > > charlie using stat.umn.edu
>> > >
>> > >         [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>> > >
>> > > ______________________________________________
>> > > R-package-devel using r-project.org mailing list
>> > > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> Charles Geyer
>> Professor, School of Statistics
>> Resident Fellow, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science
>> University of Minnesota
>> charlie using stat.umn.edu
>>
>>         [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> R-package-devel using r-project.org mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel
>>
>>
>
> --
> Charles Geyer
> Professor, School of Statistics
> Resident Fellow, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science
> University of Minnesota
> charlie using stat.umn.edu
>

-- 
Charles Geyer
Professor, School of Statistics
Resident Fellow, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science
University of Minnesota
charlie using stat.umn.edu

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