Install R package from Github

[roaldarbol]

Problem description

It would be great to be able to install an R package from Github. I seem to recall that it would need a new parser of the DESCRIPTION file, but that that shouldn't be the most difficult thing in the world (if I remember correctly @wolfv).

[wolfv]

We're working on pixi build and this would be possible once we have it. When we have it, we would implement a build backend for R packages and pixi should do everything else automagically :)

It would actually be a pretty cool use case!

[roaldarbol]

That sounds great! Do you have any idea about time horizon?

[ruben-arts]

pixi build is under heavy construction. I'm planning to show off an initial version at the end of this month, then we'll probably also start excepting contributor PR's on it. So extending it with a R build backend would then be a next step.

[roaldarbol]

Hey guys! Is there any progress on pixi build that would be of interest to R package building? Or do you think we could try prioritizing it soonish? :-)

[baszalmstra]

We are still actively developing pixi build but its still quite the moving target. I think to support R packages we would have to create a new build backend. Once the dust settled a little we'd be more than happy to look into this. Or you can go ahead and try implementing a backend yourself! See https://github.com/prefix-dev/pixi-build-backends for the currently implemented backends.