distributions3
distributions3 0.3.0 adds sample-based distributions and likelihood derivatives
Comparison · Analytics
Holistics vs superspreading
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Holistics and superspreading — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Holistics vs superspreading: at a glance
What is Holistics?
Holistics keeps fencing in the AI layer it spent the summer building.
Holistics ships small, frequent notes - often one or two sentences - across three strands: AI features in Explore and Chat, as-code control of presentation through AML, and workspace hygiene like file history and dark mode. The August entries are entirely about the AI layer's edges rather than its capabilities: an AI user attribute for restricting what the assistant can reach, and now redaction of the data it is allowed to see. Bodies are frequently a single line, so scope has to be read from the headline and the release-note URL.
What is superspreading?
superspreading now asks whether a pathogen will emerge at all, not just how unevenly it spreads.
superspreading quantifies individual-level variation in transmission — the offspring distributions and summary metrics behind the 20/80 rule — and calculates probabilities of epidemic, extinction and containment. With 0.4.0 it added probability_emergence(), estimating whether an introduced pathogen can evolve into sustained human-to-human transmission. The package moved from experimental to stable in the same release.
Holistics vs superspreading: editorial side-by-side
Holistics
5.0ANALYTICS
Holistics keeps fencing in the AI layer it spent the summer building.
◆ Current state
Holistics ships small, frequent notes - often one or two sentences - across three strands: AI features in Explore and Chat, as-code control of presentation through AML, and workspace hygiene like file history and dark mode. The August entries are entirely about the AI layer's edges rather than its capabilities: an AI user attribute for restricting what the assistant can reach, and now redaction of the data it is allowed to see. Bodies are frequently a single line, so scope has to be read from the headline and the release-note URL.
◆ Where it's heading
The AI work has moved through a recognizable sequence: capability first with chart suggestions, then observability with AI Chat Insights for admins, then access control with an AI-specific user attribute, and now field-level redaction. Access control decides which rows the assistant can reach; redaction decides what it may see inside them - the same governance thread at finer grain. Alongside it, Holistics keeps pulling presentation into AML - custom charts, theme palettes, currency formats - so what analysts used to click is versioned as code.
◆ Prediction
With reach and visibility both now constrained, the remaining gap is accountability - logging what the assistant answered against which data - though the one-line release notes rarely signal scope far enough ahead to read the next step confidently.
superspreading
0.0ANALYTICS
superspreading now asks whether a pathogen will emerge at all, not just how unevenly it spreads.
◆ Current state
superspreading quantifies individual-level variation in transmission — the offspring distributions and summary metrics behind the 20/80 rule — and calculates probabilities of epidemic, extinction and containment. With 0.4.0 it added probability_emergence(), estimating whether an introduced pathogen can evolve into sustained human-to-human transmission. The package moved from experimental to stable in the same release.
◆ Where it's heading
Scope has widened one published framework at a time. 0.2.0 added network-based reproduction numbers, 0.3.0 added the Lloyd-Smith formulation of proportion_transmission() and vendored a branching-process simulator to drop the {bpmodels} dependency, and 0.4.0 implemented and extended the Antia et al. emergence model. Each addition brings a vignette reproducing the source paper's figures, which is how this package treats a method as delivered.
◆ Prediction
The established pattern — implement a published framework, extend it, document it against the original figures — makes another literature-derived addition likelier than internal refactoring.
Alternatives to Holistics and superspreading
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 Holistics or superspreading.
Basedash
Basedash keeps pushing its data out of the workspace — now to people without accounts
RStudio
RStudio ships through release branches, and the notes are commit messages
dbt Core
dbt Fusion's second beta is adapter work: ClickHouse gets materializations, indexes, and catalogs
Fulcrum
Fulcrum is betting its whole map stack on Esri, with a hard Google Maps cutoff on September 1.
Dovetail
Dovetail spent July opening doors to other tools and August making its own rooms easier to enter.
See all Holistics alternatives → · See all superspreading alternatives →
Recent activity from Holistics and superspreading
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3d agoHolisticsAI user attribute restricts AI access to sensitive data
- 3d agoHolisticsRedact data exposed to the AI assistant
- 17d agoHolisticsCustom currency and unit formats, per field
- 20d agoHolisticsFile history: per-file version timeline and restore
- 23d agoHolisticsCustom charts become AML code with GUI authoring
- 24d agoHolisticsColor palettes can be assigned at the theme level
- 1y agosuperspreadingprobability_emergence() extends the package into pathogen emergence risk ⚡
- 1y agosuperspreadingLloyd-Smith transmission proportions; bpmodels dependency removed
- 2y agosuperspreadingNetwork reproduction numbers and joint individual/population control
- 3y agosuperspreadingFirst release: offspring distributions and epidemic risk metrics
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Holistics and superspreading?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Holistics is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 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 Holistics better than superspreading?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Holistics is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 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 Holistics?
Top Holistics alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Holistics alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/holistics for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to superspreading?
Top superspreading alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "superspreading alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/superspreading for the full list with editorial commentary on each.