[R] Problems in Recommending R

[hadley wickham]

> Again I'd disagree, perhaps the most widely used suite of software has a
> very simple and clean web-site with few bells and whistles, ditto for one of
> the most popular text-editors.  I am of course referring to the suite of GNU
> utilities (http://www.gnu.org/) that make a working GNU/Linux distribution
> and Emacs (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/ ).
>
> I like the R web-site, its clean and simple, present key information
> prominently (manuals, docs, CRAN, RNew and mailing lists).

Have you ever used the R website?

To download the latest version for R for windows you have to:

 1. avoid clicking on the "R version 2.8.1" link - that takes you to a
directory listing of strangely named files

 2. recognise that you need to click on an CRAN (what is a cran?)

 3. successfully select a mirror that is up-to-date (with no
information about which mirrors are up-to-date)

 4. click Windows (ok, this one is easy)

 5. guess that base is the "distribution" that you want

 6. phew, you're there (but don't follow the advice to download from a
mirror near you or you'll be back at step 3)

And then if you want to email the url of that page to someone else you
have to jump through hoops because it's embedded in a frame.

Hadley

-- 
http://had.co.nz/