22

It seems that as of April 28, 2018 the R 3.5 is not available for Linux in any of the mirrors. The latest r-base-core is for 3.4.4, see the image below from one of the mirrors. Meanwhile I was able to install R 3.5 for Windows. Do you know the reason why the latest R is not available for Linux?

snapshot of the r mirror showing the latest r

Ralf Stubner
  • 26,263
  • 3
  • 40
  • 75
Edgar Manukyan
  • 1,153
  • 10
  • 21
  • 2
    official repositories may not update for several weeks or more. install directly from R rather than relying on these if you want the latest. – MichaelChirico Apr 28 '18 at 12:08
  • e.g. I use this as a reference for Linux Mint. you'll have to fine tune this to your own system's particulars https://stackoverflow.com/q/28413507/3576984 – MichaelChirico Apr 28 '18 at 12:10
  • An RPM for 3.5.0 is available for OpenSuse Linux 42.3, but I am going to wait a couple of weeks to install it. – lmo Apr 28 '18 at 12:10
  • thanks @MichaelChirico, it is clear now. I will wait until repos get the 3.5 uploaded. The make workflow seems a bit complicated :) – Edgar Manukyan Apr 28 '18 at 12:32
  • R 3.5.0 is available for Debian from CRAN. – Ralf Stubner Apr 28 '18 at 12:47
  • 5
    @MichaelChirico That is actually the wrong advice. If it weren't for the binary change, we'd have binaries up in a _day or two_ as we usually. I build on release day, Michael follows the same or next day and a day later the CRAN mirrors have them. Works reliably, and I updated dozens of R releases that way. Now, for 3.5 it is harder (see my answer). – Dirk Eddelbuettel Apr 28 '18 at 13:03

1 Answers1

50

Do you know the reason why the latest R is not available for Linux?

Because we are volunteers.

Moreover, R 3.5 breaks the binaries of R 3.4.* and older so we have to rebuild everything first. That is work in progress (for what is mirrored at CRAN).

For Debian proper, I of course uploaded the new packages the morning of the release (as you can see in the ChangeLog) but we are now in a so-called transition where all packages need to be rebuild (which you can monitor via this tracker).

I am thinking of making interim packages available somewhere else. But I would have to find the time to build them first too.

Edit: I expanded a little in this r-sig-debian mailing list post.

Edit 2: Please see the update status described here (and same text here).

Dirk Eddelbuettel
  • 360,940
  • 56
  • 644
  • 725
  • 4
    Would almost suggest bolding the word volunteers... often seems lost on some – duckmayr Apr 28 '18 at 13:00
  • 10
    Thank you ever so much Dirk Eddelbuettel and all **volunteer** R developers/contributors that make users life easier. In industry we often forget how this is done, sorry for that. – Edgar Manukyan Apr 28 '18 at 13:13
  • 5
    Well, there [is now a mechanism](https://www.r-consortium.org/) to have industry contribute, and I did get my (previous) employer to pay for two years ... Then again, that machine could be more well-oiled and do more things to help us actual volunteers on the ground, but that is a different story. – Dirk Eddelbuettel Apr 28 '18 at 13:14
  • If I recall correctly, R 3.5 became available in Arch as early as a week after the release. – hpesoj626 Jun 02 '18 at 05:09
  • 2
    I made it available for Debian the day of the release, but only in the `experimental` branch as there is more to this due to binary changes. – Dirk Eddelbuettel Jun 02 '18 at 11:01
  • `this tracker` link is broken – Ömer An Jul 17 '18 at 22:05
  • Yes, because the transition finished; see the [package page for r-base-core](https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=r-base-core) showing 3.5.1 (subsequent release) in _testing_. – Dirk Eddelbuettel Jul 17 '18 at 22:14