R SIG Debian - Jul 2008 - Newbie Questions

I am new to Linux (not to R) and I am experimenting with a Linux machine
with Debian etch and the Gnome desktop environment installed. Since the
stable release has R2.4 I elected to build R from sources and was able to
successfully install R2.71.  I had some trouble installing some packages
(specifically the XML package) and saw advice on the list on how to install
R binaries using aptitude.  Now, I apparently have 2 versions of R installed
and depending on how I start R I get different versions. If I start R via
the Gnome menu I get R2.4 in a terminal window. If I type R in a terminal
window that I have opened I get R2.71.  In both cases R.home() shows the
same directory /usr/lib/R.  I seem to have a lot of trouble understanding
where things are and how to control profile files and start up options on
the Debian system.  Any advice would be most appreciated.

Michael Conklin

	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]

Michael,

I think most of your issues will be answered in the Debian README on  
CRAN:

	http://cran.r-project.org/bin/linux/debian/

I would recommend removing the version of R you compiled yourself and  
rather opt for the binaries provided on CRAN for etch by Johannes.

HTH    Vincent

Le ven. 25 juil. ? 12:37, Michael Conklin a ?crit :
> I am new to Linux (not to R) and I am experimenting with a Linux  
> machine
> with Debian etch and the Gnome desktop environment installed. Since  
> the
> stable release has R2.4 I elected to build R from sources and was  
> able to
> successfully install R2.71.  I had some trouble installing some  
> packages
> (specifically the XML package) and saw advice on the list on how to  
> install
> R binaries using aptitude.  Now, I apparently have 2 versions of R  
> installed
> and depending on how I start R I get different versions. If I start  
> R via
> the Gnome menu I get R2.4 in a terminal window. If I type R in a  
> terminal
> window that I have opened I get R2.71.  In both cases R.home() shows  
> the
> same directory /usr/lib/R.  I seem to have a lot of trouble  
> understanding
> where things are and how to control profile files and start up  
> options on
> the Debian system.  Any advice would be most appreciated.
>
> Michael Conklin
>
> 	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>
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