[R-sig-Debian] Confused about versions of R and Debian

[Johannes Ranke]

Hi,

just a side note regarding Debian testing: There are currently no
backports to Debian testing on CRAN, I only provided them before etch
was released, but already quite stable.

Best regards,

Johannes

* Dirk Eddelbuettel <edd at debian.org> [080218 13:40]:
> 
> Michael,
> 
> On 18 February 2008 at 09:49, Michael Dewey wrote:
> | I have recently acquired an Asus EEE PC which runs a version of 
> | Xandros which I believe to be a fork of Debian. I have been using R 
> | under various versions of Windows for some years but this is my first 
> | move into the world of Unix. I have installed Texlive from a CD and I 
> 
> Well, "a" cd?  Was it source? Was it binary? If binary, was it versioned?
> 
> | have successfully added a UK-based repository and installed Texmaker. 
> | Now I would like to add R. There are dire warnings on the EEE forums 
> | about the dangers of using Debian repositories so I would like some 
> | more advice before I download things.
> | 
> | 1 - If I download from the Debian repository using stable (which is 
> | the distribution I have - etch) will I get old versions of R? I do 
> | not understand what stable means here, is it like being frozen at 
> | some point in time? 
> 
> Correct, with the version that was current at the time of the freeze.
> 
> | Do I need to using testing, and if so is that 
> | likely to have compatibility problems with my system?
> 
> Maybe. We can't tell as we don't run Xandros.
> 
> Note that CRAN has backports of R for Debian testing.
>  
> | 2 - If I download from my favourite CRAN (Bristol, UK) it seems I do 
> | not get all the contributed packages. Is that correct? If so I do not 
> | quite see the point so I suspect I misunderstand here.
> 
> You get the current R for Debian testing. You would need to call
> install.packages() yourself for packages you need.
> 
> We cannot and do not know how testing and Xandros mix.
>  
> | 3 - As a last resort I should install from sources but a poster to 
> | R-help suggested he had had problems with this. Where do I find what 
> | versions of compilers and so on I need to build from source?
> 
> Call 
> 
> 	sudo apt-get build-dep r-base
> 
> which installs them for you (if you have deb-src entries for apt).
> 
> | I know I should just try it and see but I am reluctant to do that 
> | because of the dire warnings about damaging the system by using 
> | non-Xandros repositories. I also do not yet know how to un-install 
> | things either.
> | 
> | For the record I am using the command line and apt-get and I have 
> | enabled pinning to give the EEE repositories highest priority.
> 
> One thing you have not mentioned is to backup your Xandros installation, and
> go to regular Debian. If I were you, I'd consider that. Just run Debian
> testing on the Eee. See eg
> 
>   http://syn.theti.ca/articles/2008/02/16/bits-from-the-debian-eee-pc-team
> 
> for the latest from the Debian Eee team.
> 
> Dirk
> 
> -- 
> Three out of two people have difficulties with fractions.
> 
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-- 
Dr. Johannes Ranke                 jranke at uni-bremen.de     Key ID: F649AF90
UFT Bremen, Leobenerstr. 1         +49 421 218 63373
D-28359 Bremen                     http://www.uft.uni-bremen.de/chemie/ranke