broom.helpers
After eleven quiet months, the tidier under gtsummary is back to absorbing model classes.
Comparison · Analytics
haze vs OpenHouse
A side-by-side editorial comparison of haze and OpenHouse — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
haze vs OpenHouse: at a glance
What is haze?
Mesh interpolation drops its custom fork dependency and sheds weight.
haze does per-vertex smoothing and interpolation on triangular meshes, aimed at mapping neuroimaging surface data between subjects, with k-d tree lookup and interpolation in C++. After three years dormant it has shipped twice in a month: a modernization pass to get through R CMD check, and now the removal of its dependency on a custom Rvcg build. It has never been on CRAN because of package size.
What is OpenHouse?
OpenHouse starts adding per-column defaults while still closing silent-failure holes.
OpenHouse, LinkedIn's Iceberg control plane, is running two threads at once. A new [default values] work stream has begun landing - tables now apply server-supplied per-column defaults, with the read bridge updated to mark Iceberg bridge failures unrecoverable rather than letting them pass quietly. Alongside it, the safety work continues: orphan files now move to backup when a data manifest exists instead of being removed outright.
haze vs OpenHouse: editorial side-by-side
haze
5.0ANALYTICS
Mesh interpolation drops its custom fork dependency and sheds weight.
◆ Current state
haze does per-vertex smoothing and interpolation on triangular meshes, aimed at mapping neuroimaging surface data between subjects, with k-d tree lookup and interpolation in C++. After three years dormant it has shipped twice in a month: a modernization pass to get through R CMD check, and now the removal of its dependency on a custom Rvcg build. It has never been on CRAN because of package size.
◆ Where it's heading
Both recent releases point at the same obstacle. Needing a patched Rvcg meant users could not install from any normal source, and package size is the stated reason CRAN was ruled out at the first release; this release removes the first barrier and starts on the second by deleting unused data files. Nothing has been added to the interpolation surface since 2022.
◆ Prediction
The direction of travel suggests a CRAN attempt once the size problem is solved, though the package has not said so and the earlier note put it ten times over the limit.
OpenHouse
5.0ANALYTICS
OpenHouse starts adding per-column defaults while still closing silent-failure holes.
◆ Current state
OpenHouse, LinkedIn's Iceberg control plane, is running two threads at once. A new [default values] work stream has begun landing - tables now apply server-supplied per-column defaults, with the read bridge updated to mark Iceberg bridge failures unrecoverable rather than letting them pass quietly. Alongside it, the safety work continues: orphan files now move to backup when a data manifest exists instead of being removed outright.
◆ Where it's heading
The month's pattern is unmistakable once the release titles are read together: CREATE OR REPLACE silently dropping table policies, RENAME COLUMN silently succeeding without renaming, RTAS not blocked on locked tables. This is a service systematically closing paths where a catalog operation reported success while losing metadata. The [default values] train is the first sustained additive capability in the window, and it is arriving as a sequence of narrow PRs rather than a single announced feature.
◆ Prediction
Expect further [default values] increments - write-path handling and validation are the obvious next pieces - before the capability is described as complete anywhere in the feed.
Alternatives to haze and OpenHouse
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 haze or OpenHouse.
Distributions.jl
Julia's distribution library keeps filing down the edges where sampling meets array types
Power BI
Power BI's monthly grind: authoring defaults, DAX documentation, and mobile finally catching up.
ggquiver
ggquiver is awake again, fixing arrow scaling that quietly misread irregular data.
vecvec
A lazy vector container keeps closing the gaps where it quietly materialised anyway.
scimesh
A mesh renderer grows a scene graph and an exit route into glTF.
See all haze alternatives → · See all OpenHouse alternatives →
Recent activity from haze and OpenHouse
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 21h agoOpenHouseOrphan files moved to backup when a data manifest exists
- 1d agoOpenHouseRead bridge marks Iceberg bridge failures unrecoverable
- 1d agoOpenHouseServer-supplied per-column defaults applied to tables
- 1d agohazeVersion 0.4.0 -- Remove dependency on custom Rvcg version
- 9d agoOpenHouseMetrics for misconfigured HCR tables
- 18d agoOpenHouseCREATE OR REPLACE no longer silently drops table policies
- 18d agoOpenHouseBump iceberg-core to 1.2.0.20
- 22d agohazeVersion 0.3.0 -- Fixes and modernization
- 4y agohazev0.2.0 -- kdtrees
- 4y agohazeInitial release: mesh smoothing and k-d tree interpolation ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between haze and OpenHouse?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. haze and OpenHouse are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, 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 haze better than OpenHouse?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. haze and OpenHouse are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, 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 haze?
Top haze alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "haze alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/haze for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to OpenHouse?
Top OpenHouse alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "OpenHouse alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/openhouse for the full list with editorial commentary on each.