Some people have asked me what repositories and even Linux distributions are recommended as a computing foundation for packages such as sf. I am a long time Ubuntu user and have generally found that the ubuntugis-unstable repository provides a reasonable balance between being up-to-date whilst not not getting too close to the bleeding edge (currently GEOS 3.8.0, GDAL 3.0.2, PROJ 6.2.1). Based on this positive experience, and the fact that QGIS seems to work relatively well with ubuntugis versions, I generally advise that set-up, e.g. as described in this lucid tutorial: https://rtask.thinkr.fr/installation-of-r-3-5-on-ubuntu-18-04-lts-and-tips-for-spatial-packages/
However, I'm wondering if that advice should be re-considered in the light of various changes:
- to GDAL and PROJ libraries on which
sf depends, e.g. as discussed here (discussion of completed of updates for GDAL 2.5 and PROJ 6 are mentioned here)
- the coming release of R 4.0.0, which will make that tutorial out-of-date
- the coming release of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, which will also make the tutorial out-of-date and potentially mean that
ubuntugis-unstable is no longer needed, as per the sf README
- the fact that Ubuntu is not the only popular Linux distro
In anticipation of more people asking and based on the assumption that other people are wondering, I thought it worth asking: what would r-spatial developers and users recommend?
Specifically:
- Which distributions are easiest for Linux beginners to set-up and maintain?
- What are the +s and -s of using default version of libraries vs repositories such as UbuntuGIS?
- Likewise what are the +s and -s of building dependencies such as GDAL from source?
- What about docker images, e.g. the set-up in the rocker/geospatial? (That builds on the
rocker/versioned Dockerfile which is based on Debian Buster and uses the default versions of upstream libraries --- currently GEOS 3.7.1, GDAL 2.4.0, PROJ 5.2.0.)
- Any other considerations when choosing/recommending Linux set-ups for r-spatial?
Some people have asked me what repositories and even Linux distributions are recommended as a computing foundation for packages such as
sf. I am a long time Ubuntu user and have generally found that theubuntugis-unstablerepository provides a reasonable balance between being up-to-date whilst not not getting too close to the bleeding edge (currentlyGEOS 3.8.0, GDAL 3.0.2, PROJ 6.2.1). Based on this positive experience, and the fact that QGIS seems to work relatively well with ubuntugis versions, I generally advise that set-up, e.g. as described in this lucid tutorial: https://rtask.thinkr.fr/installation-of-r-3-5-on-ubuntu-18-04-lts-and-tips-for-spatial-packages/However, I'm wondering if that advice should be re-considered in the light of various changes:
sfdepends, e.g. as discussed here (discussion of completed of updates for GDAL 2.5 and PROJ 6 are mentioned here)ubuntugis-unstableis no longer needed, as per thesfREADMEIn anticipation of more people asking and based on the assumption that other people are wondering, I thought it worth asking: what would r-spatial developers and users recommend?
Specifically:
rocker/versionedDockerfile which is based on Debian Buster and uses the default versions of upstream libraries --- currentlyGEOS 3.7.1, GDAL 2.4.0, PROJ 5.2.0.)