[R] Linux, UNIX, XP32, Vista X64 or ...? [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

[Jin.Li at ga.gov.au]

Thanks to all for your kind suggestions.

After some discussion with our IT staff, I was told the UNIX system we have
is Solaris and installation of R is very time consuming because "Given that
this software is not standard, and given the amount of time required to
compile the software (and potentially it's dependencies), it will need to be
resourced as a project ..." From my experience with IT staff, it may take
quite a long time for them to set up such project, let alone the
installation.

Given that, I wonder if it is possible to install it myself. As I have
mentioned before, I have no experience in using UNIX, but I will have an
access to the UNIX system soon. Any suggestions and help are greatly
appreciated.

Regards,
Jin

-----Original Message-----
From: Gabor Grothendieck [mailto:ggrothendieck at gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, 28 January 2008 11:38
To: Li Jin
Cc: r-help at r-project.org
Subject: Re: [R] Linux, UNIX, XP32, Vista X64 or ...? [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

On the PC there is a builtin GUI but not on UNIX and there are
some packages that are OS specific in which case you might
get more or less selection but probably more.  Also depending
on the specific system you may have greater difficulty installing
certain packages due to the need to compile them on UNIX
and the possibility exists that you don't quite have the right
libraries.  On Windows you get binaries so this is not a problem.
I have repeatedly found that common packages that I took
for granted on Windows had some problem with installation
on UNIX and I had to hunt around and figure out what the problem
was with my UNIDX libraries or possibly some other problem.
For all R packages this won't be a problem but for packages
that use C and FORTRAN this can be.  Although I am lumping
all UNIX systems together I think this varies quite a bit from
one particular type/distro of UNIX/Linux to another and I suspect if you
are careful in picking out the right one (if you have a choice) you
will actually have zero problems.

On Jan 23, 2008 6:08 PM,  <Jin.Li at ga.gov.au> wrote:
> Dear All,
> I am currently using R in Windows PC with a 2 GB of RAM. Some pretty large
> datasets are expected soon, perhaps in an order of several GB. I am facing
a
> similar situation like Ralph, either to get a new PC with a bigger RAM or
> else. I am just wondering if R is getting faster in other systems like UNIX
> or Linux. Any suggestions are appreciated.
> Regards,
> Jin
> --------------------------------------------
> Jin Li, PhD
> Spatial Modeller/
> Computational Statistician
> Marine & Coastal Environment
> Geoscience Australia
> Ph: 61 (02) 6249 9899
> Fax: 61 (02) 6249 9956
> email: jin.li at ga.gov.au
> --------------------------------------------
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: r-help-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-project.org] On
> Behalf Of Prof Brian Ripley
> Sent: Thursday, 24 January 2008 12:05
> To: Ralph79
> Cc: r-help at r-project.org
> Subject: Re: [R] Problems with XP32-"3GB-patch"?/ Worth upgrading to Vista
> X64?
>
> On Wed, 23 Jan 2008, Ralph79 wrote:
>
> >
> > Dear R-Users,
> >
> > as I will start a huge simulation in a few weeks, I am about to buy a new
> > and fast PC. I have noticed, that the RAM has been the limiting factor in
> > many of my calculations up to now (I had 2 GB in my "old" system, but
> > Windows still used quite a lot of virtual memory), hence my new computer
> > will have 4 GB of fast DDR2-800 RAM.
> >
> > However, I know that 1.) Windows 32 bit cannot make use of more than
about
> > 3,2 GB RAM and 2.) it is normally not allowed to allocate more than 2 GB
of
> > RAM to one single application (at least under XP, I don't know if that
has
> > changed under Vista?).
> >
> > I remember from the R-FAQ that you can manually adjust XP so that it
> > allocates up to 3 GB to one application ("the 3GB patch"), but I read in
a
> > PC-magazine and some message boards that this may cause problems. Does
> > anybody of you successfully use this "trick" without any problems?
>
> Yes, many people: most 32-bit Exchange servers use it.  Please don't rate
> the advice in the R documentation below tittle-tattle you read on the web.
>
> > Would it be wise to use a 64bit OS, as e.g. Vista X64? I think, under
Vista
> > X64 it should be no problem to allocate 4 GB of RAM to R. Any experiences
> > with that?
>
> That's what the rw-FAQ says, and we do write answers based on experience!
>
> > Thanks in advance,
> > Ralph Wirth
> >
> >
> > -----
> > Ralph Wirth
> > University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Statistics
> > GfK Group, Department of Methods and Product Development
> >
> >
>
> --
> Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk
> Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
> University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
> 1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
> Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595
>
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