[R-sig-Debian] R-SIG-Debian Digest, Vol 152, Issue 4

[Bill Harris]

>
> Date: Sat, 5 May 2018 18:02:12 -0500
> From: Dirk Eddelbuettel <edd at debian.org>
> To: Matthieu S <matthieu.stigler at gmail.com>
> Cc: r-sig-debian at r-project.org
> Subject: Re: [R-sig-Debian] Ubuntu 18.04 bionic: availability of R
>         Ubuntu packages/ppa?
> Message-ID: <23278.14324.913149.453495 at rob.eddelbuettel.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Thanks, we try. Not too much infrastructure that we have built so these
> transitions can be slow.  On my side, Debian has one schedules but not yet
> started.


Dirk, all,

I can't say enough about my appreciation of the work you folks do in
keeping R going so well on Debian.

In these interesting times, I think you're saying that things will resolve
themselves at some point, but we're in a transition.  I see a number of
postings on Ubuntu, but I'm on Debian Stretch, trying to figure out the
safest way to go.  Does something like this make sense:


   1. aptitude safe-upgrade should be safe: there won't be any 3.5.0 Debian
   packages coming through until the environment is ready for them to come
   through (which most likely means that base R and other Stretch R packages
   are upgraded to 3.5.0?)..
   2. update.packages() inside R is /not/ safe, because it could pick up
   problematic packages from CRAN that aren't under your control.
   3. install.packages() inside R is /not/ safe, for the same reason.
   4. A prominent note will be posted here, when these two restrictions are
   removed.

Are those true statements?  Would steps 2 and 3 work if the packages don't
require compiled C++ code?  If so, is there a way to tell which packages
are at risk without memorizing what seems like a very long list?

If we (think we) need a new package we don't currently have installed, are
we out of luck until 3.5.0 is officially released in Stretch?

Is there a place where an official summary of the state of the R system on
Stretch is maintained?

I've tried to scan this list, but I may well have missed the answers to my
questions about Stretch.

Thank you,

Bill

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