Zack,
Can you try this candidate package? http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com/tmp/ess_17.11-3_all.deb It works for me in a Docker session using emacs from unstable: root@ec15faf2763c:/mnt# dpkg --install ess_17.11-3_all.deb Selecting previously unselected package ess. (Reading database ... 34389 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack ess_17.11-3_all.deb ... Unpacking ess (17.11-3) ... Setting up ess (17.11-3) ... Install emacsen-common for emacs emacsen-common: Handling install of emacsen flavor emacs Install ess for emacs install/ess: Handling install for emacsen flavor emacs Install.log: 84.4% -- replaced with Install.log.gz Processing triggers for install-info (6.5.0.dfsg.1-4) ... root@ec15faf2763c:/mnt# I can upload this 'as-is' but it might be better if you give it a spin first. Dirk -- http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com | @eddelbuettel | e...@debian.org