Details

Background

Dear R Community,

As many of you may know, the installr package has been providing valuable functions for installing and updating software on Windows OS, with a particular focus on allowing R users to update R itself from the terminal (using the updateR() function). Over the years, this package has gained significant traction, and I’m grateful for the support and appreciation the community has shown.

To give you some insight into its popularity, installr has been downloaded over 3.3 million times, with a current download rate of around 61k times a month. It’s wonderful to see the positive impact this package has had on the R community, making it easier to keep R updated and install essential software for development and reproducible research.

You can find the GitHub repository for the installr package here: https://github.com/talgalili/installr And the CRAN page for the package here: https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/installr/index.html The current version of the package is 0.23.4.

Looking for a maintainer

However, as the current maintainer of the installr package, I have a personal update to share. About five years ago, I made the switch from Windows to Linux Mint, and I no longer see myself returning to Windows. Consequently, my ability to effectively maintain the installr package has become increasingly limited.

This is why I am reaching out to the community with a request. I am searching for someone enthusiastic and dedicated to take over the maintenance of the installr package (or at least co-maintain, I can still deal with uploading to CRAN). If you are an experienced R developer with a strong background in Windows OS, and you are passionate about helping fellow R users, this might be a great opportunity for you to make a significant contribution to the community.

Responsibilities of the maintainer would include:

• Addressing user-reported issues (see list here)
• Updating and improving the package to keep up with the evolving R ecosystem
• Ensuring compatibility with new software versions and Windows updates
• Expanding the installr package’s functionality, if desired

To express your interest or to learn more about the role, please get in touch with me by leaving a comment on the github issue here. I would be more than happy to discuss the role further and answer any questions you might have.

Thank you for your continued support, and I look forward to finding a new maintainer to carry the torch and ensure the installr package continues to be a valuable resource for the R community.

Best regards,

Tal Galili