Using R for Introductory Statistics : John Verzani

Appendix A 344There is an up-to-date Debian package for R that can be installed with the apt-getcommand. You just need to add the CRAN directory to a configuration file. (Look under/bin/linux/debian) for details.) The main files are contained in r-base and r-base-core. Inaddition, several contributed CRAN packages can be installed this way, rather thanthrough the installation methods described later in this appendix. This makes updating Reven easier.The Debian distribution has proved popular for making bootable CD-ROMs thatcontain the Linux operating system. In particular, the Quantian Scientific ComputingEnvironment (http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com/quantian.html) contains R and many other preconfigured,open-source scientific software packages. To use Quantian, you need todownload the ISO image, burn it to a CDROM, and then boot your computer from thisCD-ROM. This boots to the KDE desktop environment, from which R may be run from ashell or from within an ESS session.The RedHat Linux distribution has binary files distributed in rpm format. These filescan be found on a CRAN mirror under the /bin/limix/redhat directory. Installation can bedone from the shell with the following command:rpm −i filename.rpmThis also applies to SuSE Linux and other rpm-based distributions. The help files for therpm mention issues people have with external libraries. If this installation fails, the helpfiles are the first place to look for solutions.The Gentoo Linux installation is a single command at the shell:* For example, if the mirror is the main CRAN site, the url is http://cran.rproject.org/bin/windows/base.emerge RTechnically, this isn’t a binary installation, as R is compiled from source, but it is just asstraightforward.On a UNIX machine, once R is installed you can start it from the shell with thecommand “R.”A.1.3 Binary installation under Mac OS XThe /bin/macosx directory of a CRAN site contains a disk image R. dmg that should bedownloaded. Once that’s done, the Finder application should open to the image. The fileR.pkg is double-clicked to begin the installation process. This places an R application inyour Applications directory. Starting R with its Aqua GUI is done by double-clicking onthis icon. R can also be run from within the terminal application or by using ESS to run Rwithin Emacs. The appropriate symbolic link may need to be made prior to this so thatthe correct file is on the path.