ggpointless
ggpointless keeps adding the ggplot2 layers nobody else bothered to write.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
fastpos vs humind
A side-by-side editorial comparison of fastpos and humind — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
fastpos vs humind: at a glance
What is fastpos?
Dormant three years, then a two-line release nobody using it would notice
fastpos finds the critical point of stability for a Pearson correlation, a simulation problem whose C++ implementation is the entire reason the package exists. Its substantive work concluded in 2022 with 0.5.0, the release prepared during R Journal review, which renamed the precision parameters, moved multicore work to pbapply and let users set corridor limits directly. After three years of silence, 0.6.0 removes an internal restriction to cpp11 and changes index_pop to an integer.
What is humind?
The MSNI humanitarian needs framework as code, rewritten and re-broken every year
humind turns household survey data into Multi-Sector Needs Index severity scores across WASH, Protection, SNFI, Food Security, Education and Health. Its version line tracks the annual MSNI framework revision — 2024.x, 2025.x, 2026.x — with narrow correctness patches between rollouts. v2026.2.0 is the current rollout and the most structural one in the visible history: water-quantity scoring moved out into a new mandatory prerequisite, food-security severity now comes from a different matrix, and the impactR4PHU runtime dependency is gone.
fastpos vs humind: editorial side-by-side
fastpos
0.0INFRA · APIS
Dormant three years, then a two-line release nobody using it would notice
◆ Current state
fastpos finds the critical point of stability for a Pearson correlation, a simulation problem whose C++ implementation is the entire reason the package exists. Its substantive work concluded in 2022 with 0.5.0, the release prepared during R Journal review, which renamed the precision parameters, moved multicore work to pbapply and let users set corridor limits directly. After three years of silence, 0.6.0 removes an internal restriction to cpp11 and changes index_pop to an integer.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a finished piece of research software in low-effort upkeep. The changelog's centre of gravity is the R Journal review process, and once that concluded the package stopped changing. The single release since is toolchain work of the kind that keeps a package compiling rather than anything a user would see.
◆ Prediction
Expect nothing beyond occasional compilation or CRAN-check fixes unless the accompanying paper draws requests for other correlation types or resampling schemes.
humind
3.8INFRA · APIS
The MSNI humanitarian needs framework as code, rewritten and re-broken every year
◆ Current state
humind turns household survey data into Multi-Sector Needs Index severity scores across WASH, Protection, SNFI, Food Security, Education and Health. Its version line tracks the annual MSNI framework revision — 2024.x, 2025.x, 2026.x — with narrow correctness patches between rollouts. v2026.2.0 is the current rollout and the most structural one in the visible history: water-quantity scoring moved out into a new mandatory prerequisite, food-security severity now comes from a different matrix, and the impactR4PHU runtime dependency is gone.
◆ Where it's heading
Two things move together. The framework content is revised yearly — indicators added, weights corrected, instruments swapped — and the package keeps absorbing pipeline it used to delegate, most visibly by vendoring add_fcs(), add_hhs(), add_rcsi(), add_lcsi() and add_fcm_phase() locally rather than importing them. Each rollout is explicitly breaking and the release notes have grown per-function 'Action:' instructions, which reads as maintainers who expect every downstream dashboard to need rewiring on the same annual clock.
◆ Prediction
The 2025 line settled into narrow patches immediately after its rollout — 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 fixed a separator argument, a schema rename and a shelter misclassification rather than adding indicators. Expect the 2026 line to do the same: correctness fixes against the new WASH, FCLCM and shelter-damage logic before any further framework change.
Alternatives to fastpos and humind
Other Infra & APIs 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 fastpos or humind.
mpactr
mpactr spent two spring releases normalizing case in metadata after users kept tripping on it.
surveytidy
surveytidy taught every dplyr verb to operate on a whole collection of surveys at once.
surveycore
surveycore declared its API stable with every survey design type covered.
PEIMAN2
PEIMAN2 cut its annotation database loose from its release cycle without breaking CRAN.
prospectr
prospectr spent its biggest release in years fixing spectra it had been quietly mangling.
See all fastpos alternatives → · See all humind alternatives →
Recent activity from fastpos and humind
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 29d agohumind2026 MSNI rollout: HWISE-4 prerequisite, FCLCM, impactR4PHU dropped ⚡
- 8mo agohumindTents reclassified as inadequate shelter
- 10mo agohumindFix: honour the sep argument in protection score columns
- 10mo agohumind'Acute need' renamed to 'severe need' across every output column
- 10mo agofastposcpp11 restriction removed; index_pop now an integer
- 1y agohumind2025 MSNI rollout: Protection revamped, WGQ dropped from Health
- 1y agohumindScoring corrections across WASH, education, health and shelter
- 4y agofastposMulticore fix for pbmcapply; Windows limited to one core
- 4y agofastposR Journal review release: renamed precision parameters, manual corridor limits
- 5y agofastposMore informative test failures; interactive-only progress bars
- 6y agofastposMulticore support via the future package
- 6y agofastposExact-rho population generation and C++ progress bar fixes
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between fastpos and humind?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. humind is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 3.8 vs 0.0), with 1 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 fastpos better than humind?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. humind is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 3.8 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to fastpos?
Top fastpos alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "fastpos alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fastpos for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to humind?
Top humind alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "humind alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/humind for the full list with editorial commentary on each.