[R] How can you buy R?

[Marc Schwartz (via MN)]

On Fri, 2006-05-19 at 17:59 -0300, Rogerio Porto wrote:
> While reading the various answers, I've remembered that
> the juridic part can't be that so simple. If I'm not fogeting
> something, there are some packages in R that has a more
> restrictive licence than GPL.
> 
> HTH,
> 
> Rogerio.

Any CRAN packages (or other R packages not on CRAN) that have
"non-commercial" use restrictions, likely would not be able to be used
by the OP anyway, even prior to this new policy. 

So I suspect that this would be a non-issue.

If Damien's employer is willing to accept the GPL license (probably the
most significant issue) and feels the need to pay for "something", they
could make an appropriate donation to the R Foundation. Perhaps even
secure a little PR benefit for having done so.

Is Damien's employer allowing the use of Firefox instead of IE?  

If so, the precedent within the confines of the policy has been set
already. Firefox is GPL, free and no CD.

There is an awful lot of "commercial" software out there than can be
purchased online, "properly licensed" and downloaded, without the need
for a physical CD. Anti-virus software perhaps being the most notable
example.

So:

  License:             GPL
  CD:                  Don't need one
  Purchase:            Donation to the R Foundation
  Being able to use R: Priceless

:-)

HTH,

Marc Schwartz