Date:         Wed, 2 Jul 2008 13:06:58 -0400
Reply-To:     Nathaniel.Wooding@DOM.COM
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Nat Wooding <Nathaniel.Wooding@DOM.COM>
Subject:      Re: Making you think (was Re: A powerpoint slide show comparing R
              with SAS and SPSS_
Comments: To: ajay ohri <ohri2007@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <4bc14e460807020921r7a1f5455haa8d72b3301378f9@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

I don't recall anyone commenting on the issue that it appears that a lot of
functionality can be added to R by other users but you would appear to be
at the mercy of the testing abilities of the author and anyone else who has
used the code. On the other hand, with SAS, you know that there is rigerous
testing of the procs and functions and yes, there are bugs but you can
learn of these from the usage notes. As I recall the story, SAS once found
a bug in one of the Intel chips when they were testing a stat proc and
found that there was a decimal error in the results for something like the
hundreth variable in the set that was being analyzed.

And, with SAS, you get really good technical support. Yes, sometimes the
answer isn't the best but as far as I'm concerned, it sure beats what you
get from the other packages unless you are willing to pay for on-damand
support that many offer.

Also, isn't IML supposed to give the statistician the ability to do the new
gee-whiz analysis straight from the pages of the latest stat journal?

Nat Wooding
Environmental Specialist III
Dominion, Environmental Biology
4111 Castlewood Rd
Richmond, VA 23234
Phone:804-271-5313, Fax: 804-271-2977

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