installing R on Ubuntu

Dear me.  Is the installation of R under Ubuntu really that complex?  I have
a dual boot machine (Linux / Windows, where I use the latter the most) and
have plans to try R under Linux, but have not done so yet.  Is it possible
to simplify the Linux install procedure to make R more accessible to
novices?

Compare that to Windows.  (1) Download installation program (2) Run
installation program.  That is it.

[other messages trimmed]

I know that Dirk has already responded to you about

sudo apt-get install r-base

etc.

so you are already set up.  However, I couldn't resist pointing out
that you describe installing the Windows binary package for running R
and installing precompiled packages.  If you should decide to build a
package under Windows it ain't that simple.  It is much, much simpler
than it was in the past but it still involves a lot more than

sudo apt-get install r-base-dev

Windows and Linux are tuned to different types of users.  Linux users
love to be able to tinker (which is why my wife requires me to sit
quietly and *not touch anything* whenever I visit her in her lab -
there are stories of hours spent recalibrating instruments after I was
left alone for just a few minutes).  A full development environment
installed with a minimum of fuss is expected by Linux users.  Things
are different under Windows.