[R-sig-Debian] Problem Upgrading to R 3.5 on Ubuntu 18.04

[Elizabeth Tighe]

Somehow during the process of updating both Ubuntu and R to the latest 
versions I ended up with a version of R 3.5 installed into the sudo 
user's home directory with default libraries set to the sudo user home 
directory as well (/home/uname/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.5 rather 
than usr/local/lib/R/site-library).

I've tried to remove using sudo apt purge r-base r-base-dev and get a 
message that the software is not installed. If I type "R" it opens 
version 3.5.  If I go to Ubuntu's graphical interface as sudo user, 
Software library, R is listed as installed and if I click on the 
"Remove" button, nothing happens ...

Any suggestions on how to expunge this rogue installation and start anew?

Thanks,
Liz

-- 
Elizabeth Tighe, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Steinhardt Social Research Institute
Brandeis University
781.736.3824