From ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk  Tue Nov 30 10:09:23 2004
From: ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk (Prof Brian Ripley)
Date: Tue Nov 30 10:09:26 2004
Subject: [Rd] Please don't assume a display for package installation
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.61.0411300902570.11575@gannet.stats>

SciViews is the latest of several packages that need an X server to 
complete package installation.

Please bear in mind that packages may get installed on a server with no 
display, yet run on client workstations with displays.  If your package is 
intended to start a window when it starts up, please test for a display 
first (e.g. via capabilities("X11")).

There are ways around this (running Xvfb, arranging a remote display) but 
they are tedious at best (and few machines come with Xvfb installed).

-- 
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley@stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595


[Rd] Please don't assume a display for package installation
Prof Brian Ripley