Skip to content
Prev 3098 / 15274 Next

Linux based programs

Under Windows you can download prebuilt binaries from
CRAN so you don't have to build them like on Linux
and therefore you will never run into the frustration that
a package does not build on your system.

Also there is a menuing system included with R on
Windows but not Linux, e.g. to install a package just
   Packages | Install
and choose the mirror you want and the package you want
from the popups.

The latest Rtools package (all the tools
you need to develop R packages) for Windows and
MiKTeX (also needed for package development)
are easy to install so its no longer the
case that package development is easier on Linux.

R on Linux can access more memory than on
Windows which could be an advantage if you need
very large memory space.

If you are using certain software with R then such
software might only be available on Windows or Linux
in which case that would be key.  R can communicate
with Microsoft COM objects on Windows and has
bidirectional pipes on Linux but not on Windows.

There are a few packages that only work on
Windows and a few that only work on Linux.

My sense is that the R community is split 50/50 between
Windows and Linux/Mac so both platforms are well
supported. Some versions of Linux might be better
supported than others.
On Sun, Oct 26, 2008 at 10:10 PM, Yuguang Zhou <shiningsimon at gmail.com> wrote: