Tobias,

although we did discuss the possibility of extending the 
os/toolchain/architecture notation for binary packages beyond macOS, Linux was 
not necessarily on the list as Linux distributions have already established 
ways of providing binaries, so it does not seem productive to duplicate the 
effort. Can you elaborate a bit more on what you had in mind? Binaries are by 
design specific to toolchain, distribution and architecture, so there is no 
such thing as a "GNU/Linux binary". The only reliable way to distribute 
packages in Linux is from sources or by the Linux distribution repositories. 
Binaries are inherently tied to system dependencies and their versions, so such 
concept doesn't make any sense outside of the distribution. There is no such 
thing as a "jammy binary" to take up your example - it would have to depend on 
the distribution, toolchain and all library versions as well.

Cheers,
Simon



> On Feb 10, 2025, at 10:08 PM, Tobias Verbeke 
> <tobias.verb...@openanalytics.eu> wrote:
> 
> L.S.
> 
> AFAICS the Writing R Extensions and R Installation and Administration manuals 
> do not explicitly discuss binary R packages on GNU/Linux. Only installation 
> from source is mentioned 
> (https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/R-admin.html#Installing-packages-1)
> and when discussing repository layouts 
> (https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/R-admin.html#Setting-up-a-package-repository)
>  no mention is made of conventions for GNU/Linux distributions.
> 
> The proprietary Package Manager (PPM) from Posit 
> (https://packagemanager.posit.co/client/#/) does offer binary packages for 
> GNU/Linux, but the usage of this service is restricted in ways that go 
> against the principles of open source 
> (https://posit.co/about/posit-service-terms-of-use/). By way of example, 
> mirroring is not allowed and certain categories of users are excluded (age 
> categories, competitors, ...). This is maybe expected to some, but this 
> clearly does not offer a proper foundation for the distribution of open 
> source R packages.
> 
> For this reason I am wondering whether the R project / CRAN would not be 
> better placed and/or open to support distribution of binary R packages on 
> GNU/Linux.
> 
> A second, orthogonal question is whether the R project can advance an 
> official convention for the repository layout related to the distribution of 
> binary GNU/Linux packages. Our proposal would be to use something along
> 
> http://mydomain.com/bin/linux/jammy/x86_64/contrib/4.4
> 
> which IMHO is more elegant than
> 
> http://mydomain.com/bin/linux/jammy-x86_64/contrib/4.4
> 
> (and which mimicks the documented MacOS convention
> 
> http://mydomain.com/bin/macosx/big-sur-x86_64/contrib/4.4).
> 
> Anyone?
> 
> Obviously willing to work out details and collaborate on the topic.
> 
> Kind regards,
> Tobias
> 
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> 

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