Also: http://debian-r.debian.net tends to have current packages. You could (programmatically !!) compare the state of required CRAN packages within Debian (my very small RcppAPT package on CRAN interfaces apt), compare to what available.packages() in R says and maybe warn on discrepancy. Dirk -- http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com | @eddelbuettel | edd@debian.org