running r scripts or commands with interpretor in unix for unix-layman

Assuming you save your script in a simple text file with the name so.R, you can run it under Linux/Unix by typing R at the prompt. Once in R enter

  source('so.R')

to execute the script inside the R environment (this assumes the so.R file is in the same directory as you are when you issue this command).

To run the script from the Linux/Unix command line use the following command:

  R CMD BATCH so.R

Note that I got the plot to show when I ran the script inside of R, but from the Linux command line it doesn't show. I suspect it gets quickly displayed and then goes away, so there will be a R command that you have to look up to make it pause after it displays the plot.

If your program is going to work on a single dataset, then simple-r might be the solution:

http://code.google.com/p/simple-r/

It is especially designed for simple statistical analysis as a part of Linux command line. For example, if one wants to plot some data, 'r -p data.txt' will do the job; for getting correlation coefficient: 'r cor data.txt' will suffice.

I'm guessing from the way you worded your question that you maybe SSH'ed into a linux machine? Or that you installed Ubuntu, for example, on your usual laptop/PC.

Assuming it's the second case: open a terminal and type sudo apt-get install r-base. Then type R. Then type

X <- 1:10Y <- 21:30plot(X, Y)myfun <- function (x){              x1 <- x^0.2              return (x1)             }myfun(X)

Since your question is about unix versus linux rather than R, you might also try http://unix.stackexchange.com. There is a lot to be said about the differences between linux and unix, but all you probably need to know is: download Ubuntu, burn it onto a disc, then restart your computer with the disc in your CD drive.

Hope this helps.