Dear list, I am an R user and I also write my own package in R(sometime i need to write in C), and right now i am thinking about buying a new workstation--and i am trying to decide if i should get a mac with OS X or a linux machine (for example Dell). I have experience using R on linux (but i have been just a user and never been a admin) but i am hesitating of managing a linux system on my own (btw I would like to have my new workstation to be used as a server), so right now I am leaning toward of buying a Mac Pro. But from the website, it sounds like R doesnt work quite well with Mac operating system yet...so I was wondering if anybody here have any experiences of using/developing R package on a Mac machine? Is it smooth enough? (oh by the way, i am not a Mac user yet, Windows has been the primary operating system that i used, but after hearing many good things of OS X, I am really interested in switching over.) any suggestions are appreciated! Ying Ying Lu Assistant Professor Dept. Sociology U-Colorado at Boulder
On Tue 12 Dec 2006, at 06:40 , LU YING wrote:> Dear list, > > I am an R user and I also write my own package in R(sometime i need to > write in C), and right now i am thinking about buying a new > workstation--and i am trying to decide if i should get > a mac with OS X or a linux machine (for example Dell). > > I have experience using R on linux (but i have been just a user and > never > been a admin) but i am hesitating of managing a linux system on my own > (btw I would like to have my new workstation to be used as a > server), so > right now I am leaning toward of buying a Mac Pro. But from the > website, > it sounds like R doesnt work quite well with Mac operating system > yet...so I was wondering if anybody here have any experiences of > using/developing R package on a Mac machine? Is it smooth enough? > > (oh by the way, i am not a Mac user yet, Windows has been the primary > operating system that i used, but after hearing many good things > of OS X, I am really interested in switching over.) > > any suggestions are appreciated! > > YingHi Ying. I am using R on both a PowerMac and a MacBook. I do not do any development but as far as using R I do not have any problems. Please note that software such as Parallels (http:// www.parallels.com), allows you to run Linux on a Mac Intel (such as Mac Pro) without problems, in case you need it. Feel free to ask more questions, Mihalis. ---- Mac for Productivity, Unix for Development, and Windows for Solitaire
R works very well with the Mac operating system, in my experience. Packages with simple C should be easy; I have several packages of my own that use Fortran, just one or two subroutines each, and I have no difficulty building them. I'm no expert, but as I understand it, Apple has done some things on the unix side that are somewhat different than what you'll see on a typical Linux; if you try to work with what Apple has done, in the way that Apple has designed it to be used, you will have a lot to learn. But I've done just fine without it for my rather simple needs. In my opinion, if you want to use mainstream desktop applications like Microsoft Office and also work in a unix-like environment, on the same computer, OS X is the way to go. You can run R in command-line mode at a unix prompt, as on Linux, or using the console app, similar to how it's done on Windows. -Don At 9:40 PM -0700 12/11/06, LU YING wrote:>Dear list, > >I am an R user and I also write my own package in R(sometime i need to >write in C), and right now i am thinking about buying a new >workstation--and i am trying to decide if i should get >a mac with OS X or a linux machine (for example Dell). > >I have experience using R on linux (but i have been just a user and never >been a admin) but i am hesitating of managing a linux system on my own >(btw I would like to have my new workstation to be used as a server), so >right now I am leaning toward of buying a Mac Pro. But from the website, >it sounds like R doesnt work quite well with Mac operating system >yet...so I was wondering if anybody here have any experiences of >using/developing R package on a Mac machine? Is it smooth enough? > >(oh by the way, i am not a Mac user yet, Windows has been the primary >operating system that i used, but after hearing many good things >of OS X, I am really interested in switching over.) > >any suggestions are appreciated! > >Ying > > >Ying Lu >Assistant Professor >Dept. Sociology >U-Colorado at Boulder > >______________________________________________ >R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list >https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help >PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html >and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.-- --------------------------------- Don MacQueen Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, CA, USA
Hi - I don't want to ignite any holy wars, but for 10 years until last year I used Linux, I occasionally use a Windows machine at home, and last year switched to Mac OS. Of all the GUIs for R out there, the mac is the best by far IMHO. And R on my macbook is faster than on a pentium 4 3.2GHz running either linux or win xp. Ken LU YING wrote:> Dear list, > > I am an R user and I also write my own package in R(sometime i need to > write in C), and right now i am thinking about buying a new > workstation--and i am trying to decide if i should get > a mac with OS X or a linux machine (for example Dell). > > I have experience using R on linux (but i have been just a user and never > been a admin) but i am hesitating of managing a linux system on my own > (btw I would like to have my new workstation to be used as a server), so > right now I am leaning toward of buying a Mac Pro. But from the website, > it sounds like R doesnt work quite well with Mac operating system > yet...so I was wondering if anybody here have any experiences of > using/developing R package on a Mac machine? Is it smooth enough? > > (oh by the way, i am not a Mac user yet, Windows has been the primary > operating system that i used, but after hearing many good things > of OS X, I am really interested in switching over.) > > any suggestions are appreciated! > > Ying > > > Ying Lu > Assistant Professor > Dept. Sociology > U-Colorado at Boulder > > ______________________________________________ > R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. >-- Kenneth Benoit Associate Professor of Political Science Department of Political Science, Trinity College Dublin 2, Ireland http://benoit.tcd.ie Tel: 353-1-608-2491 Fax: 353-1-677-0546
BTW, Mac OS sits on the Darwin unix system. So, you have all the benefits of Mac and can access unix via the terminal (Steve Jobs is brilliant). Things like emacs are waiting for you to use on the Mac. I haven't explored whether one can install R on the Mac and use it via the unix interface (or whether there is any reason to do so).> -----Original Message----- > From: r-help-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch > [mailto:r-help-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch] On Behalf Of Kenneth Benoit > Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 2:39 PM > To: LU YING > Cc: r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch > Subject: Re: [R] help on determining operating system > > Hi - I don't want to ignite any holy wars, but for 10 years > until last year I used Linux, I occasionally use a Windows > machine at home, and last year switched to Mac OS. Of all > the GUIs for R out there, the mac is the best by far IMHO. > And R on my macbook is faster than on a pentium 4 3.2GHz > running either linux or win xp. > > Ken > > LU YING wrote: > > Dear list, > > > > I am an R user and I also write my own package in > R(sometime i need to > > write in C), and right now i am thinking about buying a new > > workstation--and i am trying to decide if i should get > > a mac with OS X or a linux machine (for example Dell). > > > > I have experience using R on linux (but i have been just a > user and never > > been a admin) but i am hesitating of managing a linux > system on my own > > (btw I would like to have my new workstation to be used as > a server), so > > right now I am leaning toward of buying a Mac Pro. But from > the website, > > it sounds like R doesnt work quite well with Mac operating system > > yet...so I was wondering if anybody here have any experiences of > > using/developing R package on a Mac machine? Is it smooth enough? > > > > (oh by the way, i am not a Mac user yet, Windows has been > the primary > > operating system that i used, but after hearing many good things > > of OS X, I am really interested in switching over.) > > > > any suggestions are appreciated! > > > > Ying > > > > > > Ying Lu > > Assistant Professor > > Dept. Sociology > > U-Colorado at Boulder > > > > ______________________________________________ > > R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list > > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > > PLEASE do read the posting guide > http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. > > > > > -- > Kenneth Benoit > Associate Professor of Political Science > Department of Political Science, Trinity College > Dublin 2, Ireland > http://benoit.tcd.ie > Tel: 353-1-608-2491 > Fax: 353-1-677-0546 > > ______________________________________________ > R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide > http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. >