[R-pkg-devel] Problem with loading package "devtools" from CRAN.

[Dirk Eddelbuettel]

On 30 April 2024 at 01:21, Rolf Turner wrote:
| On Mon, 29 Apr 2024 06:30:20 -0500
| Dirk Eddelbuettel <edd using debian.org> wrote:
| 
| <SNIP>
| 
| > These days, I strongly recommend r2u [1].  As you already use R via
| > CRAN through apt, r2u adds one more repository after which _all_ R
| > packages are handled via the same apt operations that you already
| > trust to get you R from CRAN (as well as anything else on your
| > machine).  This covers all 20+ thousand CRAN packages along with 400
| > key BioC packages. Handling your packages with your system package
| > managed guarantees all dependencies are resolved reliably and
| > quickly. It makes installing, upgrading, managing CRAN package
| > easier, faster and more reliable.
| 
| <SNIP>
| 
| > [1] https://eddelbuettel.github.io/r2u
| 
| <SNIP>
| 
| Sounds promising, but I cannot follow what "r2u" is actually
| all about.  What *is* r2u?  And how do I go about using it?  Do I
| invoke it (or invoke something) from within R?  Or do I invoke
| something from the OS?  E.g. something like
| 
| sudo apt-get install <what???>
| 
| ???

You could peruse the documentation at

  https://eddelbuettel.github.io/r2u

and / or the blogposts I have especially below

  https://dirk.eddelbuettel.com/blog/code/r4/

(and you may have to read 'in reverse order').

| I have downloaded the file add_cranapt_jammy.sh and executed
| 
|    sudo sh add_cranapt_jammy.sh
| 
| which seemed to run OK.  What now?

Briefly, when you setup r2u you set up new a new apt repo AND a new way to
access them from R (using the lovely `bspm` package).  So in R saying
`install.packages("devtools")` will seamlessly fetch r-cran-devtools and
about 100 other files it depends upon (if you start from an 'empty' system as
I did in a container last eve before replying to you). That works in mere
seconds. You can then say `library(devtools)` as if you compiled locally.

Naturally, using binaries both way faster and easier when it works (as this
generally does). See the blog posts, see the demos, see the r2u site, try in
(risklessly !!) in a container or at gitpod or in continuous integration or
in codespaces or ...
 
The docs try to get to that. Maybe start small and aim `install.packages()`
at a package you know you do not have see what what happens?

Follow-ups may be more appropriate for r-sig-debian, and/or an issue ticket
at the r2u github repo depending on nature of the follow-up.

Good luck,  Dirk


-- 
dirk.eddelbuettel.com | @eddelbuettel | edd using debian.org