On 1/5/06, John Maindonald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I've changed the heading because this really is another thread. I > think it inevitable that there will, in the course of time, be other > lists that are devoted, in some shape or form, to the concerns of > practitioners (at all levels) who are using R. One development I'd > not like to see is fracture along application area lines, allowing > those who are comfortable in coteries whose focus was somewhat > relevant to standards of use of statistics in that area 15 or 20 > years ago to continue that way. One of the great things about R, in > its development to date, has been its role in exposing people from a > variety of application area communities to statistical traditions > different from that in which they have been nurtured. I expect it to > have a continuing role in raising statistical analysis standards, in > "raising the bar". > > Another possibility is fracture along geographic boundaries. This > has both benefits (one being that its is easier within a smaller > circle of people who are more likely to know each other for > contributors to establish a rapport that will make the list really > effective; also there will be notices and discussion that are of > local interest) and drawbacks (it risks separating subscribers off > from important discussions on the official R lists.) On balance, > this may be the better way to go. Indeed subscribers to ANZSTAT > (Australian and NZ statistical list) will know that an R-downunder > list, hosted at Auckland, is currently in test-drive mode. There > should be enough subscribers in common between this and the official > R lists that the south-eastern portion of Gondwana does not, at any > time in the very near future, float off totally on its own. > > There are of course other possibilities, and it may be useful to > canvass them.
Another possibi8lity, of course, is language-based lists. Any interest for r-spanish@ ... ? Kjetil John Maindonald email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > phone : +61 2 (6125)3473 fax : +61 2(6125)5549 > Mathematical Sciences Institute, Room 1194, > John Dedman Mathematical Sciences Building (Building 27) > Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200. > > > > On 4 Jan 2006, at 10:00 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > From: Ben Fairbank <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Date: 4 January 2006 4:42:31 AM > > To: R-help@stat.math.ethz.ch > > Subject: Re: [R] A comment about R: > > > > > > One implicit point in Kjetil's message is the difficulty of learning > > enough of R to make its use a natural and desired "first choice > > alternative," which I see as the point at which real progress and > > learning commence with any new language. I agree that the long > > learning > > curve is a serious problem, and in the past I have discussed, off > > list, > > with one of the very senior contributors to this list the > > possibility of > > splitting the list into sections for newcomers and for advanced users. > > He gave some very cogent reasons for not splitting, such as the > > possibility of newcomers' getting bad advice from others only slightly > > more advanced than themselves. And yet I suspect that a newcomers' > > section would encourage the kind of mutually helpful collegiality > > among > > newcomers that now characterizes the exchanges of the more experienced > > users on this list. I know that I have occasionally been reluctant to > > post issues that seem too elementary or trivial to vex the others > > on the > > list with and so have stumbled around for an hour or so seeking the > > solution to a simple problem. Had I the counsel of others similarly > > situated progress might have been far faster. Have other newcomers or > > occasional users had the same experience? > > > > Is it time to reconsider splitting this list into two sections? > > Certainly the volume of traffic could justify it. > > > > Ben Fairbank > > > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > > ______________________________________________ > R-help@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide! > http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] ______________________________________________ R-help@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide! http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
