[R-SIG-Mac] newbie macuser questions

[David Winsemius]

On Jun 15, 2010, at 5:38 PM, Michael Friendly wrote:

> I have a shiny new MacBook Pro, but am a total Mac-newbie.  I  
> downloaded and installed R 2.11.1, Xtools, the R Mac developer tools  
> (for building packages).  I'd like to use eclipse/StatET/subclipse  
> subversion to build my packages and sync with R-Forge as I do on Win.

Don't know. Couldn't get them to play together nicely on my machine.

> I read the R-Mac-FAQ, but the following questions remain, for now:
>
> * I'm not sure whether to choose the 32-bit or 64-bit R.app as my  
> main/default R.

If you use medium-sized files ( 1-10GB is the definition I read  
recently) you will need 64-bit. If you work only with smaller files,  
it may not matter, and could even be marginally faster to stick with  
32-bit.

> * Are R packages installed separately for 32- and 64-bit or all  
> together?

All together.

> * Similarly, for eclipse, should I work with the 32-bit or 64-bit R?
>
> * Rprofile: Under linux, I would put this at ~/.Rprofile; on Win, I  
> keep it in the 'start-in' directory, c:\R.
> Where should it go on Mac so it is always found?

You set your startup directory in R/Preferences/Startup. The default  
setting is your user home directory, ~/     # at least in Terminal- 
speak. In (GUI)Finder.app, it is a little house symbol on the LHS of a  
Finder window.

Your .Rprofile goes wherever that home directory is. By default the  
dot-files are not visible in the Finder.app but it is very easy to  
find instruction on haw to change that behavior with a Google search.  
The default text editor TextEdit.app will allow you to create  
dot.files (unlike any of the default Windows editors as of my last use  
several years ago).

Best of luck.

-- 
David Winsemius, MD
West Hartford, CT