[R] "R is not a validated software package.."

[Berwin A Turlach]

G'day Marc,

On Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:11:48 -0500
Marc Schwartz <marc_schwartz at comcast.net> wrote:

> On Fri, 2007-06-08 at 16:02 +0200, Giovanni Parrinello wrote:
> > Dear All,
> > discussing with a statistician of a pharmaceutical company I
> > received this answer about the statistical package that I have
> > planned to use:
> > 
> > As R is not a validated software package, we would like to ask if
> > it would rather be possible for you to use SAS, SPSS or another
> > approved statistical software system.
> > 
> > Could someone suggest me a 'polite' answer?
> > TIA
> > Giovanni
> > 
> 
> The polite answer is that there is no such thing as 'FDA approved'
> software for conducting clinical trials. The FDA does not approve,
> validate or otherwise endorse software.

I like this one. :)

My polite answer would have been: "Sure, can do.  If you pay for the
license of the finally agreed upon statistical software system and pay
for the time it takes me to learn it so that I can do the analysis
using that system instead of R."  Most clients I know would withdraw
such requests if they notice that it will probably double or triple
their bill. ;-)

Cheers,

	Berwin