Dear all I'm using Xubuntu Lucid and I keep getting the same random numbers whenever I start a new session of R. For example, I keep getting> sample(1:1000, 1)[1] 87 or> rnorm(1:10)[1] -1.3618103 0.4241701 1.0720076 0.2208145 -0.5375314 -0.4846588 [7] 0.7576768 0.6527407 -0.6868786 0.8718527 I expected that some set.seed() instruction woudl be present in a config file in /usr/lib/R/etc/ but after grepping the only reference came out in Rprofile.site and it was commented out: # set.seed(1234) What else could be causing this? Regards Liviu> sessionInfo()R version 2.11.1 (2010-05-31) x86_64-pc-linux-gnu locale: [1] LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 LC_NUMERIC=C [3] LC_TIME=en_US.UTF-8 LC_COLLATE=en_US.UTF-8 [5] LC_MONETARY=C LC_MESSAGES=en_US.UTF-8 [7] LC_PAPER=en_US.UTF-8 LC_NAME=C [9] LC_ADDRESS=C LC_TELEPHONE=C [11] LC_MEASUREMENT=en_US.UTF-8 LC_IDENTIFICATION=C attached base packages: [1] stats graphics grDevices utils datasets methods base other attached packages: [1] fortunes_1.4-0 sos_1.3-0 brew_1.0-3 IPSUR_1.1 -- Do you know how to read? http://www.alienetworks.com/srtest.cfm http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/applications/xfce4-dict#speed-reader Do you know how to write? http://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/e.htm#e-mail
> -----Original Message----- > From: r-help-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-project.org] > On Behalf Of Liviu Andronic > Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2010 2:15 PM > To: r-help at r-project.org Help > Subject: [R] same random numbers in different sessions > > Dear all > I'm using Xubuntu Lucid and I keep getting the same random numbers > whenever I start a new session of R. For example, I keep getting > > sample(1:1000, 1) > [1] 87 > > or > > rnorm(1:10) > [1] -1.3618103 0.4241701 1.0720076 0.2208145 -0.5375314 -0.4846588 > [7] 0.7576768 0.6527407 -0.6868786 0.8718527 > > I expected that some set.seed() instruction woudl be present in a > config file in > /usr/lib/R/etc/ > > but after grepping the only reference came out in Rprofile.site and it > was commented out: > # set.seed(1234) > > What else could be causing this? Regards > Liviu >Could you be reloading a workspace at start-up that is setting the seed? What happens if you start R using the --vanilla option? Dan Daniel Nordlund Bothell, WA USA
Dear Liviu, On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 5:14 PM, Liviu Andronic <landronimirc at gmail.com> wrote:> Dear all > I'm using Xubuntu Lucid and I keep getting the same random numbers > whenever I start a new session of R. For example, I keep getting >> sample(1:1000, 1) > [1] 87 > > or >> rnorm(1:10) > ?[1] -1.3618103 ?0.4241701 ?1.0720076 ?0.2208145 -0.5375314 -0.4846588 > ?[7] ?0.7576768 ?0.6527407 -0.6868786 ?0.8718527 > > I expected that some set.seed() instruction woudl be present in a > config file in > /usr/lib/R/etc/ > > but after grepping the only reference came out in Rprofile.site and it > was commented out: > # set.seed(1234) > > What else could be causing this? Regards > Liviu > >> sessionInfo() > R version 2.11.1 (2010-05-31) > x86_64-pc-linux-gnu > > locale: > ?[1] LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 ? ? ? LC_NUMERIC=C > ?[3] LC_TIME=en_US.UTF-8 ? ? ? ?LC_COLLATE=en_US.UTF-8 > ?[5] LC_MONETARY=C ? ? ? ? ? ? ?LC_MESSAGES=en_US.UTF-8 > ?[7] LC_PAPER=en_US.UTF-8 ? ? ? LC_NAME=C > ?[9] LC_ADDRESS=C ? ? ? ? ? ? ? LC_TELEPHONE=C > [11] LC_MEASUREMENT=en_US.UTF-8 LC_IDENTIFICATION=C > > attached base packages: > [1] stats ? ? graphics ?grDevices utils ? ? datasets ?methods ? base > > other attached packages: > [1] fortunes_1.4-0 sos_1.3-0 ? ? ?brew_1.0-3 ? ? IPSUR_1.1 > >I notice that you have the IPSUR package loaded; you know, just a shot in the dark here, but did you try not loading it? I ask because the vignette is built by making a special choice for set.seed, and the workspace that ships with the package might be interacting in an unexpected way. Please let me know if IPSUR is the culprit. Regards, Jay
You need to set the set.seed yourself. There are some simulation where I do want the same numbers generated and can use the set.seed to set it to a know value. If you want something random each time, then use the time of day in the call to set.seed. On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 5:14 PM, Liviu Andronic <landronimirc at gmail.com> wrote:> Dear all > I'm using Xubuntu Lucid and I keep getting the same random numbers > whenever I start a new session of R. For example, I keep getting >> sample(1:1000, 1) > [1] 87 > > or >> rnorm(1:10) > ?[1] -1.3618103 ?0.4241701 ?1.0720076 ?0.2208145 -0.5375314 -0.4846588 > ?[7] ?0.7576768 ?0.6527407 -0.6868786 ?0.8718527 > > I expected that some set.seed() instruction woudl be present in a > config file in > /usr/lib/R/etc/ > > but after grepping the only reference came out in Rprofile.site and it > was commented out: > # set.seed(1234) > > What else could be causing this? Regards > Liviu > >> sessionInfo() > R version 2.11.1 (2010-05-31) > x86_64-pc-linux-gnu > > locale: > ?[1] LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 ? ? ? LC_NUMERIC=C > ?[3] LC_TIME=en_US.UTF-8 ? ? ? ?LC_COLLATE=en_US.UTF-8 > ?[5] LC_MONETARY=C ? ? ? ? ? ? ?LC_MESSAGES=en_US.UTF-8 > ?[7] LC_PAPER=en_US.UTF-8 ? ? ? LC_NAME=C > ?[9] LC_ADDRESS=C ? ? ? ? ? ? ? LC_TELEPHONE=C > [11] LC_MEASUREMENT=en_US.UTF-8 LC_IDENTIFICATION=C > > attached base packages: > [1] stats ? ? graphics ?grDevices utils ? ? datasets ?methods ? base > > other attached packages: > [1] fortunes_1.4-0 sos_1.3-0 ? ? ?brew_1.0-3 ? ? IPSUR_1.1 > > > -- > Do you know how to read? > http://www.alienetworks.com/srtest.cfm > http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/applications/xfce4-dict#speed-reader > Do you know how to write? > http://garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/e.htm#e-mail > > ______________________________________________ > R-help at r-project.org 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. >-- Jim Holtman Cincinnati, OH +1 513 646 9390 What is the problem that you are trying to solve?
Dear all Thanks for all the pointers. On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 11:39 PM, Daniel Nordlund <djnordlund at frontier.com> wrote:> Could you be reloading a workspace at start-up that is setting the seed? ?What happens if you start R using the --vanilla option? >It seems that this is the culprit. For some reason, my $HOME session already has> ls(all=T)[1] ".Random.seed" If I open a session in /tmp, or using --vanilla then I get actual pseudo-random numbers. It seems that require(IPSUR) is not at fault, either. Regards Liviu