[R] Reasons to Use R

[Marc Schwartz]

On Wed, 2007-04-11 at 17:56 +0200, Bi-Info
(http://members.home.nl/bi-info) wrote:
> I certainly have that idea too. SPSS functions in a way the same, 
> although it specialises in PC applications. Memory addition to a PC is 
> not a very expensive thing these days. On my first AT some extra memory 
> cost 300 dollars or more. These days you get extra memory with a package 
> of marshmellows or chocolate bars if you need it.
> All computations on a computer are discrete steps in a way, but I've 
> heard that SAS computations are split up in strictly divided steps. That 
> also makes procedures "attachable" I've been told, and interchangable. 
> Different procedures can use the same code which alternatively is 
> cheaper in memory usages or disk usage (the old days...). That makes SAS 
> by the way a complicated machine to build because procedures who are 
> split up into numerous fragments which make complicated bookkeeping. If 
> you do it that way, I've been told, you can do a lot of computations 
> with very little memory. One guy actually computed quite complicated 
> models with "only 32MB or less", which wasn't very much for "his type of 
> calculations". Which means that SAS is efficient in memory handling I 
> think. It's not very efficient in dollar handling... I estimate.
> 
> Wilfred

<snip>

Oh....SAS is quite efficient in dollar handling, at least when it comes
to the annual commercial licenses...along the same lines as the
purported efficiency of the U.S. income tax system:

  "How much money do you have?  Send it in..."

There is a reason why SAS is the largest privately held software company
in the world and it is not due to the academic licensing structure,
which constitutes only about 12% of their revenue, based upon their
public figures.

Since SPSS is mentioned, it also functions using similar economic
models...

:-)

Regards,

Marc Schwartz