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I recently obtained a laptop computer running Linux Mint 17. I have never previously used a computer that ran Linux (except when submitting R files to a cluster).

I would like to install R on the laptop. The options presented at http://cran.at.r-project.org/ seem to be:

1. debian
2. redhat
3. suse
4. ubuntu

I suspect these are different variations of Linux. Which of these is appropriate for a machine running Linus Mint?

If I click on the terminal icon on my laptop and type:

mark@mark-Vostro-1500 ~ $ lsb_release -irc

I get:

Distributor ID: LinusMint
Release: 17
Codename: qiana

A start-up screen also includes the term: Cinnamon 32-bit

I think from this post:

R doesn't recognize Pandoc Linux Mint

that Linus Mint will run R, but I do not know which of the four options I need. Perhaps any of the four options will work?

Thank you for any advice and sorry for such a basic question.

Community
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Mark Miller
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2 Answers2

5

Open terminal window and type the following to install:

$ sudo apt-get install r-base

Provide your password and confirm the installation with 'y'.

To start the R: make a work directory, change into it and type 'R':

$ mkdir my_work
$ cd my_work
$ R
jms
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Mint is basing on Ubuntu. Using option 4 will be fine.

You can check on this page http://www.linuxmint.com/about.php

  • Based on Debian and Ubuntu, it provides about 30,000 packages and one of the best software managers.

Actually, it uses basic apt repositories from Ubuntu. Using apt to install the packages is fine, as mentioned by jms.

Yuan
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  • Also worthwhile to add that Qiana corresponds to Ubuntu's Trusty release. Not specific to R, but for a new Mint user you're bound to come across this at some point. – MichaelChirico Jan 15 '15 at 23:04