thisisnic commented on a change in pull request #11521:
URL: https://github.com/apache/arrow/pull/11521#discussion_r761028861
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File path: r/vignettes/developers/install_details.Rmd
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@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+# How the R package is installed
+
+In order for the `arrow` R package to work, it needs the Arrow C++ library,
+also known as libarrow. There are a number of scripts that are triggered
+when `R CMD INSTALL .` is run and for Arrow users, these should all just work
+without configuration and pull in the most complete pieces (e.g. official
+binaries that we host).
+
+An overview of these scripts is shown below:
+
+* `configure` and `configure.win` - these scripts are triggered during
+`R CMD INSTALL .` on non-Windows and Windows platforms, respectively. They
+handle finding the libarrow, setting up the build variables necessary, and
+writing the package Makevars file that is used to compile the C++ code in the R
+package.
+
+* `tools/nixlibs.R` - this script is sometimes called by `configure` on Linux
+(or on any non-windows OS with the environment variable
+`FORCE_BUNDLED_BUILD=true`). This sets up the build process for our bundled
+builds (which is the default on linux) and checks for binaries or downloads
+libarrow from source depending on dependency availability and build
configuration.
+
+* `inst/build_arrow_static.sh` - called by `tools/nixlibs.R` when libarrow is
+being built. It builds libarrow for a bundled, static build, and
+mirrors the steps described in the ["Arrow R Developer Guide"
vignette](./setup.html)
+This build script is also what is used to generate the prebuilt binaries.
+
+The actions taken by these scripts to resolve dependencies and install the
+correct components are described below.
+
+## How dependencies are resolved
+
+There are a number of different ways you may have installed the Arrow C++
library:
+
+* a system package
+* a library you've built yourself outside of the context of installing the R
package
+* if you don't already have it, the R package will attempt to resolve it
automatically when it installs.
+
+If you are authorized to install system packages and you're installing a CRAN
release,
+you may want to use the official Apache Arrow release packages corresponding
to
+the R package version (though there are some drawbacks: see the
+["Troubleshooting" section in the main installation docs]("../install.html)).
+See the [Arrow project installation page](https://arrow.apache.org/install/)
+to find pre-compiled binary packages for some common Linux distributions,
+including Debian, Ubuntu, and CentOS.
Review comment:
Done
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