rnaturalearth
rnaturalearth finished its sp exit and is now optimising how the data actually arrives.
Comparison · Analytics
discrim vs rotl
A side-by-side editorial comparison of discrim and rotl — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
discrim vs rotl: at a glance
What is discrim?
discrim settled into a thin engine shim after handing its model definitions to parsnip.
discrim is the parsnip extension for discriminant analysis, exposing linear, quadratic, flexible and regularized variants through the tidymodels interface. Its model definition functions moved into parsnip itself in 0.2.0, leaving this package as the engine and prediction layer. The two most recent releases are a documentation fix and a single prediction bug.
What is rotl?
rotl's whole release history is keeping name matching honest against a moving taxonomy.
Nearly every entry concerns `tnrs_match_names()`, the function that maps user-supplied names onto Open Tree taxonomy ids. 3.1.0 changed which taxon wins a multi-way match — highest matching score rather than lowest OTT id, reversing the rule 3.0.4 introduced. 3.0.12 defaulted `context_name` to 'All life' so a context inferred from the first name could not silently skew later ones. 3.0.11 made a total failure to match return an empty tibble with a warning instead of an error. The rest are small fixes tracking Open Tree API changes.
discrim vs rotl: editorial side-by-side
discrim
0.0ANALYTICS
discrim settled into a thin engine shim after handing its model definitions to parsnip.
◆ Current state
discrim is the parsnip extension for discriminant analysis, exposing linear, quadratic, flexible and regularized variants through the tidymodels interface. Its model definition functions moved into parsnip itself in 0.2.0, leaving this package as the engine and prediction layer. The two most recent releases are a documentation fix and a single prediction bug.
◆ Where it's heading
The package built out method coverage early, adding quadratic discriminant analysis in 0.1.2, the sda and sparsediscrim engines in 0.1.3 and case weights in 1.0.0, then stopped growing. Handing definitions upstream to parsnip in 0.2.0 confirmed the shape: discrim is where engines are wired, not where the API lives. Cadence since 2022 is roughly one small fix a year.
◆ Prediction
Nothing in the entries points to new methods or engines; the next release is most likely another CRAN or prediction-path fix.
rotl
0.0ANALYTICS
rotl's whole release history is keeping name matching honest against a moving taxonomy.
◆ Current state
Nearly every entry concerns `tnrs_match_names()`, the function that maps user-supplied names onto Open Tree taxonomy ids. 3.1.0 changed which taxon wins a multi-way match — highest matching score rather than lowest OTT id, reversing the rule 3.0.4 introduced. 3.0.12 defaulted `context_name` to 'All life' so a context inferred from the first name could not silently skew later ones. 3.0.11 made a total failure to match return an empty tibble with a warning instead of an error. The rest are small fixes tracking Open Tree API changes.
◆ Where it's heading
The recurring problem is ambiguity: names match several taxa, and the package has changed its tie-breaking rule twice while making failures and edge cases return predictable objects rather than errors. Nothing here expands what rotl can retrieve; it makes what it retrieves reproducible. The feed also stops in mid-2023, so the package appears dormant.
◆ Prediction
Nothing in the window suggests new capability. If a release comes, the pattern says it will follow an Open Tree API change or another matching-behaviour correction.
Alternatives to discrim and rotl
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either discrim or rotl.
writexl
writexl spent nine years refusing to do formatting, then shipped all of it in 2.0.0.
rgbif
rgbif is steadily pushing users off paged searching and onto real downloads.
rstanarm
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
taxa
taxa started a ground-up rewrite in 2021 and has published almost nothing since.
taxize
taxize spends its releases absorbing other people's API changes, one dead source at a time.
See all discrim alternatives → · See all rotl alternatives →
Recent activity from discrim and rotl
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 8mo agodiscrimFix for FDA models failing at prediction time
- 11mo agodiscrimDocumentation links updated to stay on CRAN
- 3y agorotlrotl 3.1.0 matches on score instead of lowest OTT id
- 4y agodiscrimCase weights enabled for flexible and linear discriminant models
- 4y agodiscrimModel definitions moved upstream into parsnip
- 4y agorotlrotl 3.0.12 defaults matching context to All life
- 5y agodiscrimsda and sparsediscrim engines added for LDA and QDA
- 5y agodiscrimdiscrim_quad() added; package relicensed to MIT ⚡
- 5y agorotlrotl 3.0.11 returns empty tibble when no names match
- 6y agorotlrotl 3.0.10 tracks Open Tree API updates
- 7y agorotlrotl 3.0.9 tracks Open Tree API updates
- 7y agorotlrotl 3.0.7 updates vignette for TNRS endpoint change
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between discrim and rotl?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. discrim and rotl are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is discrim better than rotl?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. discrim and rotl are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to discrim?
Top discrim alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "discrim alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/discrim for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to rotl?
Top rotl alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rotl alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rotl for the full list with editorial commentary on each.