When I first learned R, it was 'Bug in your Hair' and now we're up to 'Feather Spray.' For some reason, all the versions of R are named for jokes from Peanuts cartoons. You may notice that the names of the R versions are really funny. Once you're at a CRAN mirror page, follow the instructions there for Mac, Windows, or Linux. Choose a CRAN mirror near you (the closest to me is Tennessee) and follow the instructions there. This body of data/documents is mirrored at many research institutions all over the world so that if one fails, there are many backups. CRAN is the Comprehensive R Archive Network.
The first step is choosing a CRAN mirror. To download R, go to the front page of their website and follow the instructions. Many of you are about to take R-based classes this semester so hopefully this will provide a forum for troubleshooting any R problems as well Downloading R I was blown away by the enthusiasm people expressed about learning R, so I dreamed up this idea overnight and I'm going to post a few basic, foolproof guides going into R.
