[R-sig-Debian] Suggestions to improve the info page of /bin/linux/debian

[Mathieu Basille]

After Johannes set up the CRAN repository for Jessie, I had quite some 
trouble figuring out what any user should do to have a running and 
up-to-date R in Debian (particularly Testing). Part of the problem is, I 
think, the overwhelming documentation on the page "DEBIAN PACKAGES OF R 
SOFTWARE" which is provided on CRAN at /bin/linux/debian. Some information 
is also lacking in places.

So here are a few suggestions to try to arrange this page. The main one is 
actually a reorganization of the whole page, which should make it easier 
from a user perspective. Note that I think all information I added is 
correct, but it might not be entirely accurate.

I think the page in itself would benefit largely from the inclusion of a 
table of contents (with links to sections). With the page reorganized, that 
would follow this:

INSTALLATION
    ADMINISTRATION AND MAINTENANCE
    PATHWAYS TO R PACKAGES
BACKPORTS ON CRAN
    SUPPORTED PACKAGES
    DEBIAN WHEEZY (STABLE)
    DEBIAN JESSIE (TESTING)
    DEBIAN SQUEEZE (OLD STABLE)
    DEBIAN SID (UNSTABLE)
    SECURE APT
    SUPPORTED PLATFORMS
REPORTING PROBLEMS
BACKPORTING FOR DEBIAN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I added at the bottom of this message a few modifications of some of these 
(sub-)sections. The vast majority of the information is already there, so 
these are really minor changes, except for the Jessie sub-section.

Hope this helps,
Mathieu.


==========================================================================

INSTALLATION

With an appropriate entry in /etc/apt/sources.list *(see below according to 
the branch of Debian used)*, the newest R release *including recommended 
packages* can be installed using a command sequence like


SUPPORTED PACKAGES

[Remove:]   r-cran-rmatrix


DEBIAN JESSIE (TESTING)

As of end of January 2015, there is a new repository containing binaries 
for Jessie (current testing). This repository hosts all supported packages 
presented above, and is updated upon new R releases.

To use R supported packages on Debian Jessie, simply add something like

    deb http://<favorite-cran-mirror>/bin/linux/debian jessie-cran3/

to the file /etc/apt/sources.list on your computer. You need to substitute 
<favorite-cran-mirror> by one of the mirror URLs listed in

    http://cran.r-project.org/mirrors.html

Alternatively, it is possible to use APT-pining to install only R-related 
packages from SID using Debian official repositories (/!\ Warning: should 
be reserved to advanced users already familiar with pining their Debian 
system). Simply add the supported packages (and other r-cran-* of interest) 
in /etc/apt/preferences with a priority greater or equal than the priority 
of regular testing packages:

    Package: r-base r-base-core r-base-dev r-recommended r-cran-boot 
r-cran-cluster r-cran-class r-cran-codetools r-cran-foreign 
r-cran-kernsmooth r-cran-lattice r-cran-mass r-cran-matrix r-cran-mgcv 
r-cran-nlme r-cran-nnet r-cran-rpart r-cran-spatial r-cran-survival littler 
r-cran-rodbc python-rpy python-rpy2 rkward r-cran-jags r-cran-coda
    Pin: release o=Debian,a=unstable,l=Debian
    Pin-Priority: 900


DEBIAN SID (UNSTABLE)

The latest stable versions of R and R packages are readily available in 
official Debian SID repositories.



-- 

~$ whoami
Mathieu Basille
http://ase-research.org/basille

~$ locate --details
University of Florida \\
Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center
(+1) 954-577-6314

~$ fortune
« Le tout est de tout dire, et je manque de mots
Et je manque de temps, et je manque d'audace. »
  -- Paul Éluard