[R-SIG-Mac] Package Installer of R 2.9.1 (64 bit)?

[Stranathan, Dan]

Hello all


First post here. Warning: I'm an IT sys admin, not a programmer or developer. I'm a tad confused on the 32 bit vs. 64 bit versions of R for Mac OS X (x86). Looking for some clarification.

I'm looking for a current (stable) 64bit version of R to run on a 2009 Intel Serve. I will be using it with Bioconductor. My users will be running R from the command line or X11 via SSH primarily (i.e.; not from the Aqua console GUI). Even though I may not need to use a 64bit version of the R GUI, Id like to have it installed just in case.

I see that there is a .pkg  installer for R 2.9.1 available as a .dmg, but it appears to be a 32bit. Is there not a 64 bit version available in a .pkg installer format as well? If not, do I need to compile a 64bit version from source? I'm curious as to why there isn't a 64 bit version in .pkg format.

Looking around the 'Net, I did find what appears to be a 64 bit version of R, but its a little older version  - 2.9.0 (Its under the "Leopard Build" section on this page: http://r.research.att.com/ ) I'm curious as to why there is a 64 bit version of 2.9.0 (app & GUI) available, but there isn't one available for 2.9.1.

I know this has been discussed in the past, but I just want to clarify. I have seen posts in this list back in June/July 2009. At that time there was a discussion of installing R 2.9.1 64 bit app and then retro-fitting it with a stand-alone version of the 64 bit GUI. Is this still the best way to do this? Or has someone put together an installer with the 64 bit app (2.9.1) and a 64 bit version of the GUI?

My goal is to get the most recent version of R (64 bit) installed. If I have to compile/install R from source that's fine, but Id like to make the process as painless as possible.

Any words of wisdom would be appreciated.


Thank you!

-Dan