I need a relatively efficient way to share data between Matlab and [R](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_(programming_language)).

I have checked [**SaveR**](http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/28370) and [**MATLAB R-link**](http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/5051), but **SaveR** [formats](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serialization) Matlab's binary data as text strings first and then prints them to an ASCII file, which is not efficient for large datasets, and **MATLAB R-link** only works on Windows (it uses a COM-based interface).

Update:
-------

Dirk has posted a list of what seem to be better solutions to this problem than **SaveR** and **Matlab R-link**. I also learned recently about [**RAM disks**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM_disk) (see [here](https://superuser.com/questions/34388/whats-the-best-ramdisk-for-windows) and [here](https://superuser.com/questions/175861/ramdisk-ubuntu-10-04) for some implementation examples), and thought that they might facilitate the task of sharing large datasets between Matlab and R (or similar computational environments) further. This leads me to the following questions: 

Assumming that the data fits in the machines' memory in Matlab's or R's native data containers:

1. Are any of the solutions listed so
far a better fit for RAM disks?
2. Are there any additional
considerations to be taken into
account when dealing with RAM disks
instead of with secundary-storage
solutions?

Thanks!