The R Project SVN R

            THE BASIC R README


       (See "FAQ" and "RESOURCES" for more detailed information)
       (See "INSTALL"             for help on installation)

1. INTRODUCTION

This directory contains the source code tree for R, which is a
language which is not entirely unlike (version 3 of) the S language
developed at AT&T Bell Laboratories by Rick Becker, John Chambers and
Allan Wilks.  Indeed in the (present) absence of an R manual, you can
(mostly) get along by using the S manuals.

R is free software distributed under a GNU-style copyleft.

Currently the software is undergoing active development.  Discussion
of the development process is carried out on the "r-devel" mailing
list.  See the file RESOURCES for details on how to subscribe to
this list.


2. HISTORY

R was initially written by Robert Gentleman and Ross Ihaka of the
Statistics Department of the University of Auckland.  In addition,
a large group of individuals has contributed to R by sending code
and bug reports.

Since mid-1997 there has been a core group who can modify the R
source code CVS archive.  The group currently consists of

    Douglas Bates, Peter Dalgaard, Robert Gentleman,
    Kurt Hornik, Ross Ihaka, Friedrich Leisch, Thomas Lumley,
    Martin Maechler, Guido Masarotto, Paul Murrell, 
    Brian Ripley, Heiner Schwarte, Duncan Temple Lang 
    and Luke Tierney.

As noted above, discussions of the development process take
place in the r-devel mailing list.


3. PRESENT STATUS

The present version implements most of the functionality in the 1998
book book "The New S Language" (the "Blue Book") and many of the
applications.  In addition, we have implemented a certain amount of
functionality from the 1992 book "Statistical Models in S" (the "White
Book").  In particular we have functioning versions of "aov", "glm",
"lm" and "loess", and "tree" is available as an add-on package.

What we have in the way of manual is in the directory in an
"output independent" form which can be used to create versions
for HTML, LaTeX, troff etc.


4. GOALS

Our aim at the start of this project was to demonstrate that it was
possible to produce an S-like environment which did not suffer from
the memory-demands and performance problems which S has.  It is only
more recently that we have started trying to turn R into a "real"
system.  In the short term we hope to create a small portable free
system which will provide most of the functionality of S and some
extensions.

R is being converted to GNU coding standards.

Sincerely,
The R Core Team.