The C code for Qn() and Sn(), src/qnsn.c is based on Fortran code that has been be available from http://www.agoras.ua.ac.be/ (Antwerp Group On Robust & Applied Statistics) (-> Programs -> Robust) by {at the time} Peter Rousseeuw (rousse@wins.uia.ac.be) Christophe Croux (croux@wins.uia.ac.be) Department of Mathematics and Computing Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen Universiteitsplein 1 B-2610 Wilrijk (Antwerp) Belgium and carries the note This file contains fortran functions for two new robust estimators of scale denoted as Qn and Sn, decribed in Rousseeuw and Croux (1993). These estimators have a high breakdown point and a bounded influence function. The implementation given here is very fast (running in O(n logn) time) and needs little storage space. Rousseeuw, P.J. and Croux, C. (1993) Alternatives to the Median Absolute Deviation", Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 88, 1273-1283. This software may be used and copied freely for scientific and/or non-commercial purposes, provided reference is made to the above mentioned paper. where as Martin Maechler got explicit permission from P.Rousseeuw to licence it under the GNU Public Licence. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------