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SDTM supplemental-qualifier merging got sturdier, then the package went quiet for two years.
Comparison · Analytics
FedData vs teal.modules.hermes
A side-by-side editorial comparison of FedData and teal.modules.hermes — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
FedData vs teal.modules.hermes: at a glance
What is FedData?
FedData has spent two major versions migrating US federal geodata off R's retiring spatial stack.
FedData downloads and standardises US federal geospatial datasets — NLCD, NHD, NED, SSURGO, Daymet, GHCN, PAD-US, NASS — into consistent R objects. Two breaking majors define the current package: 3.0.0 moved returns to sf and raster and pulled data from cloud-optimised GeoTIFFs, and 4.0.0 finished the job by dropping sp and raster entirely for terra and sf. Recent releases are dataset refreshes, most recently PAD-US 4.0.
What is teal.modules.hermes?
teal.modules.hermes stopped publishing release notes before it stopped releasing.
All three recent tags are automation output: a bump from 0.1.3.9017 to 0.1.4, a pre-release merge whose body is a list of file-path updates and co-author trailers, and an empty commit. The most recent is from October 2022.
FedData vs teal.modules.hermes: editorial side-by-side
FedData
0.0ANALYTICS
FedData has spent two major versions migrating US federal geodata off R's retiring spatial stack.
◆ Current state
FedData downloads and standardises US federal geospatial datasets — NLCD, NHD, NED, SSURGO, Daymet, GHCN, PAD-US, NASS — into consistent R objects. Two breaking majors define the current package: 3.0.0 moved returns to sf and raster and pulled data from cloud-optimised GeoTIFFs, and 4.0.0 finished the job by dropping sp and raster entirely for terra and sf. Recent releases are dataset refreshes, most recently PAD-US 4.0.
◆ Where it's heading
The package tracks two moving targets at once: the R spatial stack, which it has now fully migrated onto terra and sf, and the federal agencies whose URLs, file naming and hosting keep shifting. With the dependency migration finished, releases have shrunk to single-dataset updates such as annual NLCD and PAD-US 4.0, which suggests the structural work is done and the ongoing cost is data-source maintenance.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued small releases pinned to new vintages of the underlying federal datasets, plus fixes when an agency moves or reformats a source; no further dependency-level upheaval is visible in these entries.
teal.modules.hermes
0.0ANALYTICS
teal.modules.hermes stopped publishing release notes before it stopped releasing.
◆ Current state
All three recent tags are automation output: a bump from 0.1.3.9017 to 0.1.4, a pre-release merge whose body is a list of file-path updates and co-author trailers, and an empty commit. The most recent is from October 2022.
◆ Where it's heading
The tags share the insightsengineering date-stamp and [skip vbump] convention, so the feed reports pipeline events rather than package changes — the one package-relevant line across all three is scda moving to Suggests. Nothing here indicates ongoing development.
◆ Prediction
There is nothing in these entries to project from; the package's actual state would have to be read from its NEWS file or commit history.
Alternatives to FedData and teal.modules.hermes
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 FedData or teal.modules.hermes.
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lobstr
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GSODR
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giscoR
giscoR's 1.0 moved its dataset index into the cache, so new Eurostat releases arrive without a package update.
See all FedData alternatives → · See all teal.modules.hermes alternatives →
Recent activity from FedData and teal.modules.hermes
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1y agoFedDataget_padus() updated to PAD-US 4.0
- 1y agoFedDataAnnual NLCD access added; get_nass() retired
- 2y agoFedDatasp and raster dropped; everything returns terra or sf ⚡
- 3y agoFedDataGHCN moves to https; NHD handles empty and odd geometries
- 3y agoFedDataAll raster writing moves to terra
- 3y agoteal.modules.hermes2022_10_13
- 3y agoFedDataVersion 3 rebuilds on sf and cloud-optimised GeoTIFFs ⚡
- 3y agoteal.modules.hermes2022_08_16: [skip vbump] Merge pre-release to main (#276)
- 4y agoteal.modules.hermes2022_06_09: [skip vbump] (#256)
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between FedData and teal.modules.hermes?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. FedData and teal.modules.hermes 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 FedData better than teal.modules.hermes?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. FedData and teal.modules.hermes 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 FedData?
Top FedData alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "FedData alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/feddata for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to teal.modules.hermes?
Top teal.modules.hermes alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "teal.modules.hermes alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/teal-modules-hermes for the full list with editorial commentary on each.