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inlabru vs texor

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

inlabru vs texor: at a glance

Featureinlabrutexor
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score2.50.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesbayesian-modelling, spatial-statistics, r-package, api-consolidationlatex, r-markdown, document-conversion, sweave
Last editorial update8h ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is inlabru?

A Bayesian spatial modelling package rebuilding its foundations one breaking release at a time

inlabru wraps INLA for spatial, point-process and latent-Gaussian models in R. It is mid-modernisation: since 2.12.0 cut the sp stack, each release has renamed part of the public surface, standardised how external packages attach custom mappers, or replaced internal machinery. 2.15.0 is the latest step, pairing a new predictor evaluation and linearisation implementation with broom's tidy(), glance() and augment() methods and four non-zero-truncated observation families.

Read the full inlabru trajectory →

What is texor?

The LaTeX-to-R-Markdown converter that stopped transcribing articles and started making them executable.

texor converts legacy R Journal articles from LaTeX into R Markdown, wrestling with the parts that never translate cleanly: numbering, cross-references, algorithm environments, and macros nobody outside the R Journal uses. Since 1.5.0 it can also emit figures as code chunks and tables as CSV read back through kable(), and target bookdown, litedown or biocstyle. The 2025 releases are repair work — pandoc keeps changing underneath it.

Read the full texor trajectory →

inlabru vs texor: editorial side-by-side

I
inlabru
INFRA · APIS
2.5

A Bayesian spatial modelling package rebuilding its foundations one breaking release at a time

◆ Current state

inlabru wraps INLA for spatial, point-process and latent-Gaussian models in R. It is mid-modernisation: since 2.12.0 cut the sp stack, each release has renamed part of the public surface, standardised how external packages attach custom mappers, or replaced internal machinery. 2.15.0 is the latest step, pairing a new predictor evaluation and linearisation implementation with broom's tidy(), glance() and augment() methods and four non-zero-truncated observation families.

◆ Where it's heading

The arc is consolidation of the extension surface rather than expansion of the model catalogue. Every release adds mappers or families with one hand and removes a dependency, a re-export or a deprecated path with the other — plyr in 2.15.0, fmesher's Depends entry in 2.14.1, sp and ggmap in 2.12.0. The compatibility flag bru_compat_pre_2_14_enable and the temporary fm_int/fm_pixels re-exports show a maintainer sequencing breaks across releases instead of landing them together.

◆ Prediction

The 2.14 compatibility flag is still defaulting to TRUE and the fmesher re-exports are described in the entries as temporary, so the next obvious move is a release that flips bru_compat_pre_2_14_enable off and drops those re-exports.

T
texor
INFRA · APIS
0.0

The LaTeX-to-R-Markdown converter that stopped transcribing articles and started making them executable.

◆ Current state

texor converts legacy R Journal articles from LaTeX into R Markdown, wrestling with the parts that never translate cleanly: numbering, cross-references, algorithm environments, and macros nobody outside the R Journal uses. Since 1.5.0 it can also emit figures as code chunks and tables as CSV read back through kable(), and target bookdown, litedown or biocstyle. The 2025 releases are repair work — pandoc keeps changing underneath it.

◆ Where it's heading

Two expansions define the arc. 1.4.0 took on Sweave as a source format, opening the pre-Rmd back catalogue of literate R documents. 1.5.0 changed what comes out the other end, offering executable code chunks and data files where earlier versions produced flat markup. Both moves point the same way: toward converted articles that still compute rather than merely resemble the original. Everything since has been keeping that machinery working against pandoc's release cadence.

◆ Prediction

The last two releases were both triggered by upstream pandoc changes breaking numbering or Lua filters, so the next release is most likely more of the same; new output styles remain the plausible feature direction given how recently that list was extended.

Alternatives to inlabru and texor

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 inlabru or texor.

See all inlabru alternatives → · See all texor alternatives →

Recent activity from inlabru and texor

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

  1. 23d agoinlabruPredictor linearisation rewritten; broom tidiers, truncated families
  2. 3mo agoinlabruBugfix release: factor contrasts, raster extraction, error classes
  3. 5mo agoinlabruNew mappers, standardised cgeneric support, bru_obs storage refactor
  4. 1y agoinlabruMapper classes shortened to bm_*, experimental predictor aggregation
  5. 1y agotexorBroken figure and table numbering repaired after pandoc updates
  6. 1y agotexorDESCRIPTION path, cleanup ordering, and a pandoc filter patch
  7. 1y agoinlabruDrops sp and ggmap for an sf-native spatial stack
  8. 1y agotexorExecutable figure chunks, CSV-backed tables, and new vignette styles
  9. 2y agotexorSweave becomes a supported source format
  10. 2y agotexorBookdown-style equation references and LaTeX macro workarounds
  11. 3y agotexorNumbering for code blocks and wide tables, plus seven more macros

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between inlabru and texor?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. inlabru 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 inlabru better than texor?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. inlabru 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to inlabru?

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

What are the best alternatives to texor?

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