Note, I didn't copy Dr. Stevens on this.

In looking at the R documentation, I think he is talking about the R add-on
packages.  It looks like these can be setup in multiple places, so there
could be ones that are part of the directory tree where R is installed and
also ones that are in a directory tree that a user specifies - this is done
with an environment variable called R_LIBS.

So it looks like we could install a set of add-ons that may be of general
use (maybe we could ask Dr. Stevens for a list), and then provide users with
instructions on how to install additional packages and review the list of
what is installed globally on an on-going basis.

Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: Research Computing Support [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Martin Henry H. Stevens
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 11:59 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: R Software

Hi Rescomp:
Thank you for loading R. I am working on a tough global optimization  
problem right now that could use the cluster power.

R relies heavily on "packages" that are maintained mirrored servers  
and which the user installs on an as needed basis. These packages add  
functionality that are in addition to the base install. There are  
hundreds (1-200?) of these packages, each of them quite small in  
size. The end user of R on the cluster, however, will not have rights  
to install these as needed.

I was hoping that you could either download all of them now, or load  
a subset (10-20) that I anticipate needing. Would either of these be  
possible?

Thank you,
Hank Stevens

Dr. Martin Henry H. Stevens, Assistant Professor
338 Pearson Hall
Botany Department
Miami University
Oxford, OH 45056

Office: (513) 529-4206
Lab: (513) 529-4262
FAX: (513) 529-4243
http://www.cas.muohio.edu/~stevenmh/
http://www.muohio.edu/ecology/
http://www.muohio.edu/botany/
"E Pluribus Unum"