[R-SIG-Mac] multiple R versions in a multi-user environment

[Bill Knebel]

We run R in a multiuser environment (Mac OSx Leopard Server utilizing R 
+ESS over an ssh connection) that requires us to keep multiple  
versions of R (R-2.7.2 and higher) available on the same machine.   I  
have successfully installed multiple R versions using the binaries for  
Mac OSX  and deleting the relevant Receipt before installing the newer  
version of R.  My problem occurs when allowing individuals to run  
different versions of R. I would like to be able to allow users to run  
any verison that is currently installed.  The Rswitch gui works nicely  
if I want to make a global switch (for all individuals) from one  
version of R to another.  The Mac OSx FAQ recommends not to hardcode  
the shell scripts to start R to a specific version (FAQ 12.15). Am I  
better off building R from source for each version we need and  
bypassing the Frameworks approach for R used by the binaries or is the  
a "safe" approach to use the binaries and utilize hardcoded shell  
scripts to point to a given version of R?  (I have created some shell  
scripts (hacked from those provided) that allows me to start either  
R-2.6.1 or R-2.7.2 but the Mac OSX R FAQ recommends against this  
approach.) If there is somewhere else I should be reading, I would  
appreciate a pointer and I would be happy to review.

Thanks for any help.

Bill