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distributions3 vs RadialMR

A side-by-side editorial comparison of distributions3 and RadialMR — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Shared themes:r-package

distributions3 vs RadialMR: at a glance

Featuredistributions3RadialMR
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score2.50.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesr-package, probability-distributions, statistical-modelling, maintainershipmendelian-randomization, radial-plots, correctness-audit, statistical-inference
Last editorial update50m ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is distributions3?

distributions3 changes hands to Achim Zeileis, and a moment calculation bug goes with it.

An R package giving probability distributions a consistent object interface — d/p/q/r functions, moments, and prodist() methods that extract a fitted distribution from a regression object. Releases are infrequent, roughly one a year, and the last one is largely administrative: Achim Zeileis takes over maintenance from Alex Hayes, with all URLs and documentation updated to match, alongside a fix to incorrect moment calculations reported by a user.

Read the full distributions3 trajectory →

What is RadialMR?

RadialMR's 2026 release corrects degrees of freedom that had been wrong since documentation.

RadialMR implements radial-plot formulations of IVW and MR-Egger Mendelian randomization, with outlier detection and interactive plotting. The recent history is thin on features and increasingly focused on the arithmetic: 1.2.4 in July 2026 fixes the degrees of freedom returned by egger_radial() to the documented n-2, corrects the heterogeneity p-value that inherited the same error, and repairs a negated lower bound in the random-effects bootstrap standard error search interval in ivw_radial().

Read the full RadialMR trajectory →

distributions3 vs RadialMR: editorial side-by-side

D2.5

distributions3 changes hands to Achim Zeileis, and a moment calculation bug goes with it.

◆ Current state

An R package giving probability distributions a consistent object interface — d/p/q/r functions, moments, and prodist() methods that extract a fitted distribution from a regression object. Releases are infrequent, roughly one a year, and the last one is largely administrative: Achim Zeileis takes over maintenance from Alex Hayes, with all URLs and documentation updated to match, alongside a fix to incorrect moment calculations reported by a user.

◆ Where it's heading

The package's growth has come in two modes. Early releases absorbed whole families of distributions from outside contributors — the extreme-value set, Erlang, later the Poisson binomial — while later ones tightened the interface itself with is_discrete() and is_continuous() generics and elementwise type-safety when applying a distribution vector to a numeric vector. The handover is the notable event in the current window: maintenance moves to the author of the surrounding statistical ecosystem this package already integrates with through prodist() and countreg, which suggests the interface work will continue over the distribution-collection work.

◆ Prediction

Expect closer alignment with Zeileis's own packages, with prodist() coverage widening to more model classes; the entries here do not indicate whether new distribution families remain on the agenda.

R
RadialMR
ANALYTICS
0.0

RadialMR's 2026 release corrects degrees of freedom that had been wrong since documentation.

◆ Current state

RadialMR implements radial-plot formulations of IVW and MR-Egger Mendelian randomization, with outlier detection and interactive plotting. The recent history is thin on features and increasingly focused on the arithmetic: 1.2.4 in July 2026 fixes the degrees of freedom returned by egger_radial() to the documented n-2, corrects the heterogeneity p-value that inherited the same error, and repairs a negated lower bound in the random-effects bootstrap standard error search interval in ivw_radial().

◆ Where it's heading

This is a package being read closely by its maintainer rather than extended. The 1.2.x line pairs statistical corrections with defensive hardening — an rmr_format class check so unformatted input fails with a clear message, and plotly_radial() dispatching on object class instead of counting list elements. Both are the kind of change made while auditing, not while building.

◆ Prediction

Expect the audit to continue into the remaining estimator internals and print methods rather than new radial variants; the entries show no feature work queued.

Alternatives to distributions3 and RadialMR

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 distributions3 or RadialMR.

See all distributions3 alternatives → · See all RadialMR alternatives →

Recent activity from distributions3 and RadialMR

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 24d agodistributions3Maintenance moves to Achim Zeileis; moment calculations corrected
  2. 1mo agoRadialMRegger_radial() degrees of freedom corrected to n-2
  3. 3mo agoRadialMRroxygen2 bumped; package-level helpfile added
  4. 4mo agoRadialMRUnspecified codebase optimizations
  5. 10mo agodistributions3ggplot2 compatibility for the plotting functions
  6. 1y agoRadialMRggplot2 v4 warning removed from plot_radial()
  7. 1y agodistributions3Poisson binomial distribution, with a normal-approximation fallback
  8. 3y agodistributions3is_discrete and is_continuous generics, plus elementwise type-safety
  9. 4y agodistributions3Extreme-value family, Erlang, and a plotting generic

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between distributions3 and RadialMR?

Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. distributions3 is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is distributions3 better than RadialMR?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. distributions3 is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to distributions3?

Top distributions3 alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "distributions3 alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/distributions3-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to RadialMR?

Top RadialMR alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "RadialMR alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/radialmr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.