R help - Sep 2011 - How does one start R within Emacs/ESS with root privileges?

Esteemed UseRs and DevelopeRs,

Apologies if this question belongs else where, but it does concern R's 
package installation/maintenance.

How does one start R within Emacs/ESS with root privileges?

I tried without success:

 > M-x sudo R

Why i'm motivated to do so:

It seems logical to me, as the only user of the PC, to keep my R library 
consolidated in the universal library rather than splitting into 
universal and user libraries. Hence the desire to run R as root.

In addition, it's nice to be able to install packages 'on the fly'
when
and as needed and not need to launch a separate R session (as root) in 
the terminal just to install a package.

Migrating from windows, i'm completey new to linux (ubuntu) and am 
seeing for myself if Emacs/ESS is as good as its purported to be. So 
maybe my motivation is nonsensical to expereinced ESS/R users. If so i'd 
really appreciate tips on efficient package installation/maintenance 
using Emacs/ESS.

TIA,

karl

-- 
Karl Brand <k.brand at erasmusmc.nl>
Department of Genetics
Erasmus MC
Dr Molewaterplein 50
3015 GE Rotterdam
P +31 (0)10 704 3455 | F +31 (0)10 704 4743 | M +31 (0)642 777 268

On 09/07/2011 08:54 AM, Karl Brand wrote:
> Esteemed UseRs and DevelopeRs,
>
> Apologies if this question belongs else where, but it does concern R's
> package installation/maintenance.
>
> How does one start R within Emacs/ESS with root privileges?
>
> I tried without success:
>
> > M-x sudo R
>
> Why i'm motivated to do so:
>
> It seems logical to me, as the only user of the PC, to keep my R
> library consolidated in the universal library rather than splitting
> into universal and user libraries. Hence the desire to run R as root.
Hi Karl,

Why the need to install packages in root? As you are the only user there
is not reason to install them system wide (to make them available to all
users, which is just you). Installing the packages in your homedir
solves your problem much easier, without the need to run R as root
continuously. I think you should not run anything as root if it is not
absolutely needed, which could potentially damage your system
(accidentally overwriting something).

hope this helps,
Paul
>
> In addition, it's nice to be able to install packages 'on the
fly'
> when and as needed and not need to launch a separate R session (as
> root) in the terminal just to install a package.
>
> Migrating from windows, i'm completey new to linux (ubuntu) and am
> seeing for myself if Emacs/ESS is as good as its purported to be. So
> maybe my motivation is nonsensical to expereinced ESS/R users. If so
> i'd really appreciate tips on efficient package
> installation/maintenance using Emacs/ESS.
>
> TIA,
>
> karl
>

-- 
Paul Hiemstra, Ph.D.
Global Climate Division
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI)
Wilhelminalaan 10 | 3732 GK | De Bilt | Kamer B 3.39
P.O. Box 201 | 3730 AE | De Bilt
tel: +31 30 2206 494

http://intamap.geo.uu.nl/~paul
http://nl.linkedin.com/pub/paul-hiemstra/20/30b/770

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience and suggestions.

I see now the logic of making use of my user library which doesn't 
require root privs. Apparently linux is actually set up to work well - 
something i'm not used to from the other OS i've used till now.

And for the rare times i do need to install into the system-wide 
library, i think i'll survive in the terminal :P

cheers,

Karl



On 2011-09-07 17:08, Spencer Graves wrote:
> Under Vista and Windows 7, I install R in a local directory
"pgms" so I
> never have to worry about permissions.
>
>
> Under Linux, I use "su" not "sudo". Then I call R and
install.packages.
> Then I quit R and "su" and continue with what I want.
>
>
> hope this helps.
> Spencer
>
>
> On 9/7/2011 5:11 AM, Karl Brand wrote:
>> Cheers Paul.
>>
>> Its a very good point. Although i am curious how badly i can damage my
>> R install by running as root. I always ran R in windows with admin.
>> privileges without problems (touch wood). Probably best to never find
>> out by sticking with user privileges.
>>
>> However, even for taking care of R install/maint. i'd prefer to do
>> this interactively within Emacs rather than the terminal. Motivated by
>> this, i'd still like to find out how to invoke R with root
privileges.
>>
>> I've also reposted the original email on perhaps a more appropriate
>> forum at: ESS-help at stat.math.ethz.ch
>>
>> Karl
>>
>>
>> On 2011-09-07 11:02, Paul Hiemstra wrote:
>>> On 09/07/2011 08:54 AM, Karl Brand wrote:
>>>> Esteemed UseRs and DevelopeRs,
>>>>
>>>> Apologies if this question belongs else where, but it does
concern R's
>>>> package installation/maintenance.
>>>>
>>>> How does one start R within Emacs/ESS with root privileges?
>>>>
>>>> I tried without success:
>>>>
>>>>> M-x sudo R
>>>>
>>>> Why i'm motivated to do so:
>>>>
>>>> It seems logical to me, as the only user of the PC, to keep my
R
>>>> library consolidated in the universal library rather than
splitting
>>>> into universal and user libraries. Hence the desire to run R as
root.
>>>
>>> Hi Karl,
>>>
>>> Why the need to install packages in root? As you are the only user
there
>>> is not reason to install them system wide (to make them available
to all
>>> users, which is just you). Installing the packages in your homedir
>>> solves your problem much easier, without the need to run R as root
>>> continuously. I think you should not run anything as root if it is
not
>>> absolutely needed, which could potentially damage your system
>>> (accidentally overwriting something).
>>>
>>> hope this helps,
>>> Paul
>>>
>>>>
>>>> In addition, it's nice to be able to install packages
'on the fly'
>>>> when and as needed and not need to launch a separate R session
(as
>>>> root) in the terminal just to install a package.
>>>>
>>>> Migrating from windows, i'm completey new to linux (ubuntu)
and am
>>>> seeing for myself if Emacs/ESS is as good as its purported to
be. So
>>>> maybe my motivation is nonsensical to expereinced ESS/R users.
If so
>>>> i'd really appreciate tips on efficient package
>>>> installation/maintenance using Emacs/ESS.
>>>>
>>>> TIA,
>>>>
>>>> karl
>>>>
>>
>
-- 
Karl Brand <k.brand at erasmusmc.nl>
Department of Genetics
Erasmus MC
Dr Molewaterplein 50
3015 GE Rotterdam
P +31 (0)10 704 3455 | F +31 (0)10 704 4743 | M +31 (0)642 777 268