[R] R on netbooks et al?

[Paul Norris]

Dear Dirk,

As a Ubuntu newbie I was going by the information on the following 
couple of webpages which talk about the need to turn the i386 binaries 
into binaries for lpia architecture:

http://mydellmini.com/forum/i386-packages-on-lpia--t3540s75.html
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=6528287#post6528287

As I'm new to all this (a gradually reducing Windows addict)I was not 
sure which files from CRAN were needed for the 386 binary so opted not 
to use the script mentioned on the above webpage.

R2.6.2 appears in the package manager on the Mini 9 but I decided I'd 
give compiling the latest version a shot.  As I say I'm rather new to 
this so if anyone has any experience which suggests that the above is 
not relevant and you can just use the ubuntu binaries directly, I'd be 
happy to hear about it.

All the best,

Paul

Dirk Eddelbuettel wrote:
> Paul,
> 
> On 20 March 2009 at 13:41, Paul Norris wrote:
> | Just to add to this thread (with my first ever R list post).  I got a 
> | Dell Mini 9 (I think it is called the Inspirion 910 in the US?) 
> 
> So, it's sold as Dell Mini 9. I like those too and am considering buying one.
> 
> | yesterday running Ubuntu with 2GB and a 32 GB SSD.
> | 
> | While the machine came with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS it is a version which has 
> | been compiled by Dell to suit the architecture of the Atom processor. 
> | As such, standard 386 binaries seem to cause problems and programs need 
> 
> That's the first I hear of that. Can you back that up with that website,
> mailing list, ... discussion?
> 
> To the very best of my knowledge, all x86 compatibles "just work", including
> say the Via chips in some super-small mobos. All AMD and Intel chips work.
> 
> However, the kernel and libc switched a while back to effectively only (as I
> recall) 586 and later are now supported. But all new chips work.
> 
> | to be recompiled.  Downloaded R 8.2.1 source from CRAN this morning and 
> | it all compiled without error and runs very nicely (graphics windows 
> | seem appropriately sized for the screen etc).
> 
> Could you possibly try the Ubuntu binaries from CRAN ?  They should "just
> work". Vincent and Michael do a very nice job of recompiling my Debian
> packages. I actually run these Ubuntu builds at work (on amd64).
> 
> Cheers, Dirk (aka the R maintainer for Debian and hence effectively for Ubuntu)
> 


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