[R] Installing different R versions

[Loris Bennett]

Dear Luca,

Luca Cerone <luca.cerone at gmail.com> writes:

> Dear Loris and Wolfgang,
> thanks a lot for the help!
>
> I wasn't aware of the module project. I'd rather use the "official"
> way of having co-existent R versions in this case,
> but is a good tool to know!

As far as I can tell from a quick look, "R Installation and
Administration", as referred to by Wolfgang, just tells you how to
install different versions in different places by using the
configuration option --prefix (for Linux at least).  This is some thing
you always have to do, if you want to install several versions in
parallel.

However, once you have multiple versions installed, you need a mechanism
to allow users to choose between them.  This is where Environment
Modules come in.  At the simplest level, they just allow environment
variables to be set and unset in an easy and consistent way.

So it is not a question of "using the 'official' way of having
co-existent R versions", but rather of installing various versions and
then enabling people to choose easily between them.

Or have I missed some intrinsic feature of R which will allow me to
switch between installed versions without having to explicitly tweak
environment variables?

Cheers,

Loris

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