How can I contribute to base R in small ways?

Question

Occasionally I see small ways I could improve either R (recently the IQR command) and R documentation (just this week perhaps elaborating differences among and better interconnecting aggregate, tapply, and by). But I don't see a way to really make that contribution back. I looked into the developer site and it seems that my options are either to attempt to become a full fledged developer or create packages, neither of which fit what I wish to accomplish.

I did propose IQR changes on the R mailing list but got no response so I figure that's going nowhere.

And to clarify, I'm talking about base-R. Additional packages are another matter.

Any tips?

Answer 1

How about patches to existing packages?

How about open bug reports on packages? R-Forge projects don't seem to use the issue trackers much, but some folks on the [RPostgreSQL]hhttp://code.google.com/p/rpostgresql/) team I'm on enabled it (where it is hosted on Google Code), and it has been helpful -- see here. And we had a really useful inflow of fresh blood with a rocking new developer from Japan, probably in part because of the visibility of the project there.

In essence, try to find a project / group / team to become acquainted with and join. In that sense, this is just like any other Open Source project. The r-devel list (gmane view) is a good place for R development in general.

The R Core team, on the other hand, is a little more closed and per invitation only and unlikely to change. So be it, for better or worse. It has worked so far, and hence I am not among those who bemoan this loudly.

Answer 2

Send (or CC) to r-devel. Traffic is quite high on r-help, and things can be overlooked there.

File a bug under the wishlist category detailing the improvement you would like to see.

Having filed the bug, try to provide a patch against the R code and or documentation as appropriate. I've done this before where there was a problem or infelicity in R, supplied a patch and a fix to the help files/manual and had the changes accepted (after suitable modification) by R Core.

If it is an addition to the R code base, you are going to have to show that there is a real pressing need for the addition. Basically you are asking R Core to maintain your code in perpetuity, and they are unlikely to do that unless you can demonstrate a need.

If it is an addition, look for a popular R package that does similar/related things and suggest to the package maintainer that they include your function. That way you don't need to start a whole package for something simple but contribute your code. There are several, popular, *misc packages on CRAN for example.

If you want to contribute fixes to the R documentation and/or manuals, provide patches to the sources. You can find the sources at svn.r-project.org/R

Hopefully that gives you some ideas. Patches and code always help!