[R] Running R from CD?

[John Fox]

Dear Jari,

When I distribute an R Windows CD/ROM to students, I generally include both
the installer and an installed version. This allows students who don't want
to or can't install the software to use it. They pay a big penalty in speed,
however. A flash drive would provide better performance if this is a viable
option.

It's not really necessary to do anything as elaborate as in my Rcmdr
instructions if the CD is for one's own use: Just install to the CD (copy
over installed versions of whatever contributed packages you want to use)
and run rgui.exe from it.

Regards,
 John

--------------------------------
John Fox
Department of Sociology
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada L8S 4M4
905-525-9140x23604
http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/jfox 
-------------------------------- 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: r-help-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch 
> [mailto:r-help-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch] On Behalf Of Jari Oksanen
> Sent: Monday, November 22, 2004 3:42 AM
> To: bogdan romocea
> Cc: hans at vanwalen.com; R-News
> Subject: Re: [R] Running R from CD?
> 
> On Mon, 2004-11-22 at 02:41, bogdan romocea wrote:
> > Better install and run R from a USB flash drive. This will save you 
> > the trouble of re-writing the CD as you upgrade and install new 
> > packages. Also, you can simply copy the R installation on your work 
> > computer (no install rights needed); R will run.
> > 
> I think there is a niche (= a hole in the wall) for a live 
> CD: it is cheaper to distribute 20 copies of CD's to your 
> audience than 20 USB memory sticks. Instructions would be welcome.
> > 
> > From: Hans van Walen <hans_at_vanwalen.com>
> 
> > At work I have no permission to install R. So, would anyone know 
> > whether it is possible to create a CD with a running R-installation 
> > for a windows(XP) pc? And of course, how to?
> > 
> Check the file Getting-Started-with-the-Rcmdr.pdf in John 
> Fox's Rcmdr package. You should be able to reach this package 
> by launching help.start(), and then browsing its directory in 
> the help browser window. Go to chapter "7. Some Suggestions 
> for Instructors" which tells you how to make a live CD of R 
> in Windows. I haven't tried this, since I don't have Windows, 
> but I sure will when I got to be an "instructor" in a Windows class.
>  
> cheers, jari oksanen
> --
> Jari Oksanen <jarioksa at sun3.oulu.fi>
> 
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