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Asked: 2026-05-13T16:10:20+00:00

preface: i’m an os x user coming to linux, so excuse my ignorance in

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preface: i’m an os x user coming to linux, so excuse my ignorance in advance

I’ve installed R using synaptic and now i’m trying to install packages.

I open R then try 

install.packages("some_package")

system tries to default to /site-library, then tells me it’s not writable, then asks about making a personal library?

Should I just make site-library writable? Or is there something more to this?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    The directory /usr/share/local/lib/R is the default location; the directory is has ownership root:staff by default. If you add yourself to group staff (easiest: by editing /etc/group and /etc/gshadow) you can write there and you do not need sudo powers for the installation of packages. That is what I do.

    Alternatively, do apt-get install littler and copy the example file /usr/share/doc/littler/examples/install.r to /usr/local/bin and chmod 755 it. The you can just do sudo install.r lattice ggplot2 to take two popular examples.

    BTW Ubuntu 8.1 does not exist as a version. Maybe you meant 8.10? Consider upgrading to 9.10 …

    Edit: Also have a look at this recent SO question.

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