[R-sig-Debian] change default path for installing r-cran packages by sudo apt r-cran...?

[Dirk Eddelbuettel]

On 6 January 2019 at 23:03, Winfried Moser wrote:
| dear dirk,
| 
| i am following up on our thread on r-help-mailinglist. you advised me to
| bring it over here.
| 
| when installing packages from within R, they usually go to a directory
| defined in R_LIBS_USER, which i have it set in .Renviron.

That is _you_ as the user installing _locally compiled packages_. For those
you can alter where they as _you do it locally_.  Your command, your control.
 
| when installing packages via sudo apt install r-cran-.., they go to
| /usr/lib/R/site-library.

Those are _distribution-provided binaries following distribution policy_. All
Debian (and Ubuntu) .deb package install below /usr.  They are _prebuilt_ and
cannot be altered locally.  Also, there is a long tome describing
distribution policy.
 
| is there a possibility to have packages installed to the R_LIBS-USER
| directory by using the second possibility?

No. Because they come already prebuilt.

But if you don't like those, you don't install those. You can always pick
locally installed from source package from CRAN. Your choice, your work. You
are not forced to use r-cran-* binaries. 
 
| dirk, you pointed me to the comments in Renviron.site:
| i tried to set R_LIBS_USER in Renviron.site
| i tried to set R_LIBS in Renviron.site
| i tried to set R_LIBS in .Renviron.site
| 
| but sudo apt install r-cran... still installs to /usr/lib/R/site-library
| 
| can this be changed or is it fixed?

I fear you were under a somewhat fundamental misunderstanding and I hope this
cleared it up a little.

Dirk

-- 
http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com | @eddelbuettel | edd using debian.org