Rcpp on Solaris

Question

I am trying to compile Rcpp_0.9.7 from source on sparc-sun-solaris2.10. I am getting the following error when I try to use install.packages:

sh: make: not found

ERROR: compilation failed for package 'Rcpp'

From research on the internet, it appears others have had similar problems with solaris. Unfortunately I do not know very much about which compilers I should or should not be using. One thing I am beginning to realize, however, is that solaris seems to be a sub-optimal environment for running R (in terms of performance as well as convenience).

Answer 1

Solaris can mean different things: it could be Solaris on x86, or Solaris on Sparc.

According to the Rcpp build results page on CRAN, Rcpp does now build on x86 Solaris (thanks to a recent patch by Martyn Plummer) but not Sparc Solaris. We were just discussing that this week on the rcpp-devel list.

As for your error, you are lacking critical components, namely the make tool. You likely lack more. Your conclusion is correct, though. Depending your level of Unix knowledge, you may be best off to simply install Ubuntu and enjoy tens of thousands of pre-built packages, including R and well over a hundred related packages.