Installing Pre-Release R 3.3.2 on Linux Ubuntu 16.10

0
votes

I am trying to download and install the Econometrics package to R. I am using R version 3.3.2, and ubuntu 16.10 (I spent hours today trying to do this, including updating to 16.10 from 16.04 LTS). current base for R is 3.3.1, with prelease as 3.3.2.

I downloaded R-latest.tar.gz from the https://cran.rstudio.com/src/base-prerelease/R-latest.tar.gz ,then extracted it, changed directory to the given folder where it was extracted. ran ./configure hit enter, which ran through a bunch of "checking" and returned

"configure: error: --with-x=yes (default) and X11 headers/libs are not available"

next, I read to "make" or "make && make install" but this isnt doing anything.

"make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop."

and this is what came from the install folder, so I have no idea. tried to reinstall from sudo-apt get install, but this re installed the version 3.3.1, which I previously had on here (I spent a while trying to update from 3.3.1 to 3.3.2, which wasnt successful, so tried to uninstall and reinstall.)

any advice will be tremendoussssslllyyyy appreciated.

thanks

DB

1
rlinuxinstallation

1 Answers

2
votes

Ok, let's decompose these issues

  • your upgrade from Ubuntu 16.04 to 16.10 has nothing to do with the R upgrade, so I won't mention it any further

  • the Debian and Ubuntu distributions have arguably the best support for new R among distros

  • I have been maintaining R for Debian for something like fifteen years. My Debian builds get "ported" (ie rebuilt) for Ubuntu by Michael Rutter and are generally available the next day -- via CRAN (see the README)

  • R 3.3.2 comes out Monday, you will have a new Ubuntu version by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. For several Ubuntu releases, so it does not matter which Ubuntu version you run

  • Similarly, Johannes "rebuilds" for Debian into a repo available via CRAN

  • I have already made two prebuilds of R 3.3.2 for Debian -- but these we generally do not "port" but just wait.

  • Lastly there is a dedicated mailng list r-sig-debian where these matters get detailed and questions answered. Go there.

  • If you still must build from source, you are free to do so. We even provide stanza with our build files. But I do not have time to walk you through each error. What you ran into is something elementary (ie "missing build-depends")

  • Finally, if you wish, you can also get Docker containers under the 'rocker' (for "R on Rocker") tag.

Edit: As for the econometrics package (URL?), every package on CRAN will install with the current release of R so you are chasing ghosts and making your own life difficult by insisting on an unreleased version of R. Just learn how to take advantage of the Ubuntu repo at CRAN, use R 3.3.1 now and 3.3.2 within days. With zero effort or trouble.