Hi,

A new version of R is approaching, R 2.4.0 is scheduled for the first days of October.

When version 2.4 is recompiled we need to recompile all the packages that depend on R.

rpy needs to be compile for every new 2.4.x release, but R packages only need to be release for each x.y.0 release.

That is exactly what happens with python, every package needs to be rebuild because pyc files depend on a major version.

Python does not present any major problem since the core of the language is in Core, and every new version only appears once in the Core release and only minor updates are allowed during the distribution life time.

R core language is in Extras and the correct way to build a new version is to rebuild the core language and then the different packages according to its dependencies.

This procedure is tedious and error prone, especially as more and more packages enter Extras. Would it be possible to automate to some extent this procedure.

I guess that this procedure could be of interest for other languages that don't go in Core.

Should I bring this issue to Extras or Packagers mailing list, since this problem seems general enough and not only limited to R.

What do other think?