R help - Feb 2026 - its time for an update for install.packages!

Hey Core,
followed by my Bluesky post
<https://bsky.app/profile/yannco.bsky.social/post/3mdy4rlios226>,
I felt like this was such a simple, yet required change!
Let's default to using pak when prompted or when running old scripts with
install.packages.
```r
.utils_install_packages <- utils::install.packages
install.packages <- function(pkgs, ...) {
 if (requireNamespace("pak", quietly = TRUE)) { pak::pkg_install(pkgs,
...)
}
else { .utils_install_packages(pkgs, ...) }
 }
```
btw, util's home help page shows the r-core email address as maintainer,
and the description file shows r-help
-- 
Yann Cohen
? www,yann-dev,io <https://iamyannc.github.io/Yann-dev>
? +596 696 66 58 93 <https://wa.me/596696665893>

	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]

My non-core vote is to discard this suggestion. 

FWIW R-Core doesn't pay much attention to this volunteer helpers list
anyway... I suggest to OP that you spend a little more time with the official
documentation before suggesting significant changes.

On February 3, 2026 12:30:05 PM PST, Yann Coh <yannco5 at gmail.com>
wrote:
>Hey Core,
>followed by my Bluesky post
><https://bsky.app/profile/yannco.bsky.social/post/3mdy4rlios226>,
>I felt like this was such a simple, yet required change!
>Let's default to using pak when prompted or when running old scripts
with
>install.packages.
>```r
>.utils_install_packages <- utils::install.packages
>install.packages <- function(pkgs, ...) {
> if (requireNamespace("pak", quietly = TRUE)) {
pak::pkg_install(pkgs, ...)
>}
>else { .utils_install_packages(pkgs, ...) }
> }
>```
>btw, util's home help page shows the r-core email address as maintainer,
>and the description file shows r-help
>-- 
>Yann Cohen
>? www,yann-dev,io <https://iamyannc.github.io/Yann-dev>
>? +596 696 66 58 93 <https://wa.me/596696665893>
>
>	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>
>______________________________________________
>R-help at r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see
>https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
>PLEASE do read the posting guide
https://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
>and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
--
Sent from my phone. Please excuse my brevity.
	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]

Yann,
For those of us who are not as knowledable about the inner workings of R may I
request that you give us more information:
(1) What is the problem with the current version of install.packages?
(2) What do you want install.packages to do that it currently does not do?
Thank you,
John

P.S. I looked at your Bluesky post, but it did not answer my quesitons.



John David Sorkin M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine;
Associate Director for Biostatistics and Informatics, Baltimore VA Medical
Center Geriatrics Research, Education, and Clinical Center;
Former PI Biostatistics and Informatics Core, University of Maryland School of
Medicine Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center;
Senior Statistician University of Maryland Center for Vascular Research;

Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine,
10 North Greene Street
GRECC (BT/18/GR)
Baltimore, MD 21201-1524
Cell phone 443-418-5382





________________________________________
From: R-help <r-help-bounces at r-project.org> on behalf of Yann Coh
<yannco5 at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 3, 2026 3:30 PM
To: r-help at r-project.org <r-help at r-project.org>; R-core at
r-project.org <R-core at r-project.org>
Subject: [R] its time for an update for install.packages!


Hey Core,
followed by my Bluesky post
<https://bsky.app/profile/yannco.bsky.social/post/3mdy4rlios226>,
I felt like this was such a simple, yet required change!
Let's default to using pak when prompted or when running old scripts with
install.packages.
```r
.utils_install_packages <- utils::install.packages
install.packages <- function(pkgs, ...) {
 if (requireNamespace("pak", quietly = TRUE)) { pak::pkg_install(pkgs,
...)
}
else { .utils_install_packages(pkgs, ...) }
 }
```
btw, util's home help page shows the r-core email address as maintainer,
and the description file shows r-help
--
Yann Cohen
? www,yann-dev,io <https://iamyannc.github.io/Yann-dev>
? +596 696 66 58 93 <https://wa.me/596696665893>

        [[alternative HTML version deleted]]

______________________________________________
R-help at r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see
https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
PLEASE do read the posting guide https://www.r-project.org/posting-guide.html
and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.