If you’re using R on a Linux or Unix system, there’s not much available in terms of a graphical user interface in the standard R distribution: you’re pretty much stuck with the command line. More here

I have a confession to make: I haven’t used ESS in several years. But for my talk to the Linux User Group in Davis the other day, it seemed appropriate to use it for my R demonstration. Installing REvolution R on Ubuntu was a piece of cake. But (remembering from the times when I was developing it) I expected ESS to be a bit trickier to install. So I set aside a good hour to get ESS and Emacs working on Ubuntu.