[R-pkg-devel] Clarifying CRAN's external libraries policy

[Neal Richardson]

Hi,
CRAN's policy on using external C/C++/Fortran/other libraries says:

"Where a package wishes to make use of a library not written solely for the
package, the package installation should first look to see if it is already
installed and if so is of a suitable version. In case not, it is desirable
to include the library sources in the package and compile them as part of
package installation. If the sources are too large, it is acceptable to
download them as part of installation, but do ensure that the download is
of a fixed version rather than the latest. Only as a last resort and with
the agreement of the CRAN team should a package download pre-compiled
software."

Apologies if this is documented somewhere I've missed, but how does one get
CRAN's agreement to download pre-compiled software? A project I work with
has been seeking permission since October, but emails to both
CRAN using R-project.org and CRAN-submissions using R-project.org about this have not
been acknowledged.

I recognize that this mailing list is not CRAN, but I was hoping someone
here might know the right way to reach the CRAN team to provide a judgment
on such a request.

Thank you,
Neal

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