Description
Why this is important?
Since 2020, there has been notable growth in multi-core Arm-based laptops and desktops, including the recent launch of Windows on Arm (WOA). In the coming years, Arm anticipates an increase in available OEM (original equipment manufacturer) devices. As such, developers will expect packages to be available for WoA so that downstream applications can more easily build for WoA platforms.
Project summary
This project aims to significantly enhance the support for running R packages on Windows 11 for Arm64 (WoA) by identifying and contributing bug fixes / improvements to the relevant parts of the R community (e.g., CRAN/Bioconductor packages or even R Core / Rtools etc.). The project’s goals include:
- Identifying CRAN and Bioconductor packages lacking Windows/Arm64 support.
- Proposing and testing patches upstream for R packages that fail to build or run on WoA.
- Engaging with the R development community via the Windows Special interest group, R-SIG-windows, R-Package-Devel mailing list or the informal R Contributors Slack and following the R Contribution Guide to submit high-quality patches.
- Reporting new issues, requesting comments on proposed patches, documenting process via Bugzilla and reviewing existing issues through the bug tracker
- Tracking CI coverage for recently announced public preview of Windows11-Arm64 GitHub-hosted runners and potentially proposing GitHub Actions or GitLab CI templates to automate WoA builds.
Stretch Objectives:
- Identifying, Analyzing and fixing compatibility issues in base R and Rtools for the Windows/Arm64 environment. This may involve waiting for improved upstream support from GCC for Windows-AArch64. A summary and progress is available here.
The deliverables include:
- Patches, request for comments and bug reports the highest impact packages
- A curated list of packages with proposed WoA support status
- A short technical write-up describing the contributions and challenges
Prequisites
- Intermediate understanding of the R language
- Intermediate understanding of Rtools, Git and Docker for cross-compilation.
- Basic understanding or willingness to learn Bugzilla, Windows 11 operating system and GitHub CI/CD.
- Arm64 Windows device or Access to virtualized WoA platforms via Linaro’s Windows on Arm Environments.
Resources from Arm and our partners
- Documentation: R Contribution Guide
- Documentation: R Bugzilla
- Documentation: Rtools for Windows
- Documentation: Bioconductor Build Reports
- Documentation: Package installation results for CRAN and Bioconductor packages
Support Level
This project is designed to be self-serve but comes with opportunity of some community support from Arm Ambassadors , who are part of the Arm Developer program and the R community. If you are not already part of our program, click here to join.
Benefits
Standout project contributions will result in preferential internal referrals to Arm Talent Acquisition (with digital badges for CV building). And we are currently discussing with national agencies the potential for funding streams for Arm Developer Labs projects, which would flow to you, not us.
To receive the benefits, you must show us your project through our online form. Please do not include any confidential information in your contribution. Additionally if you are affiliated with an academic institution, please ensure you have the right to share your material.