rnaturalearth
rnaturalearth finished its sp exit and is now optimising how the data actually arrives.
Comparison · Analytics
mlr3proba vs taxize
A side-by-side editorial comparison of mlr3proba and taxize — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
mlr3proba vs taxize: at a glance
What is mlr3proba?
mlr3proba is shedding weight as its survival work moves into sibling packages
mlr3proba provides probabilistic supervised learning for mlr3 — survival analysis, density estimation, and the measures that go with them. Recent releases are almost entirely upkeep: a distr6 fork to work around an upstream problem, an ooplah fix, a predict-type correction, and registration in mlr_reflections$loaded_packages. The one deletion is telling, with LearnerDensPenalized removed after pendensity left CRAN.
What is taxize?
taxize spends its releases absorbing other people's API changes, one dead source at a time.
The most recent work is migration: 0.10.0 replaced the deprecated Global Names Resolver functions with GNA equivalents (`gna_verifier`, `gna_parse`), rewrote `scrapenames` for the new API, and updated its rredlist usage to match that package's own v4 rewrite. 0.10.1 then tuned `gna_verifier`'s batch size to 50. The older entries in the window show the same shape from a different angle: `tnrs()` made defunct because the service died, COL dropped over rate limiting, NatureServe reworked for a new API, and a package-wide parameter rename to `sci` / `com` / `id` / `sci_com` / `sci_id`.
mlr3proba vs taxize: editorial side-by-side
mlr3proba
0.0ANALYTICS
mlr3proba is shedding weight as its survival work moves into sibling packages
◆ Current state
mlr3proba provides probabilistic supervised learning for mlr3 — survival analysis, density estimation, and the measures that go with them. Recent releases are almost entirely upkeep: a distr6 fork to work around an upstream problem, an ooplah fix, a predict-type correction, and registration in mlr_reflections$loaded_packages. The one deletion is telling, with LearnerDensPenalized removed after pendensity left CRAN.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is being pared back rather than extended. Its README now points at survdistr and mlr3cmprsk as matured alternatives for parts of what it covers, which reads as scope being handed off, while the Cox proportional-hazards autoplot arrived from mlr3viz in the other direction. Several fixes exist to route around dependencies that broke or disappeared, which is the recurring cost of building on a long chain of specialized CRAN packages.
◆ Prediction
The dependency churn suggests more consolidation — further reliance on survdistr and mlr3cmprsk, and more learners retired when the package underneath them goes unmaintained.
taxize
0.0ANALYTICS
taxize spends its releases absorbing other people's API changes, one dead source at a time.
◆ Current state
The most recent work is migration: 0.10.0 replaced the deprecated Global Names Resolver functions with GNA equivalents (`gna_verifier`, `gna_parse`), rewrote `scrapenames` for the new API, and updated its rredlist usage to match that package's own v4 rewrite. 0.10.1 then tuned `gna_verifier`'s batch size to 50. The older entries in the window show the same shape from a different angle: `tnrs()` made defunct because the service died, COL dropped over rate limiting, NatureServe reworked for a new API, and a package-wide parameter rename to `sci` / `com` / `id` / `sci_com` / `sci_id`.
◆ Where it's heading
taxize's job is aggregating a dozen taxonomic databases, so most of its engineering is downstream of decisions it does not control — sources go away, endpoints change, rate limits appear. The visible trend is consolidation: fewer, better-maintained backends rather than broader coverage. Release cadence has thinned to roughly one a year, and the rredlist coupling means it now inherits that package's breaking changes too.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to track another upstream source change rather than add new databases; the deprecated-parameter aliases from the 0.9.97 rename are also overdue for removal.
Alternatives to mlr3proba and taxize
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 mlr3proba or taxize.
writexl
writexl spent nine years refusing to do formatting, then shipped all of it in 2.0.0.
rgbif
rgbif is steadily pushing users off paged searching and onto real downloads.
rstanarm
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
taxa
taxa started a ground-up rewrite in 2021 and has published almost nothing since.
rotl
rotl's whole release history is keeping name matching honest against a moving taxonomy.
See all mlr3proba alternatives → · See all taxize alternatives →
Recent activity from mlr3proba and taxize
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2mo agomlr3probamlr3proba 0.8.10 registers itself in the mlr3 loaded-packages registry
- 4mo agomlr3probamlr3proba 0.8.9 drops LearnerDensPenalized after pendensity left CRAN
- 5mo agomlr3probamlr3proba 0.8.8
- 5mo agomlr3probamlr3proba 0.8.7
- 5mo agotaxizetaxize 0.10.1 lowers gna_verifier batch size
- 9mo agomlr3probamlr3proba 0.8.5
- 10mo agomlr3probamlr3proba 0.8.4 takes over the Cox proportional-hazards autoplot
- 1y agotaxizetaxize 0.10.0 migrates to GNA and the new rredlist API
- 5y agotaxizetaxize 0.9.99 retires tnrs(), paginates WORMS queries
- 5y agotaxizetaxize 0.9.98 adds NCBI and zoological rank names
- 6y agotaxizetaxize 0.9.97 standardises parameter names package-wide
- 6y agotaxizetaxize 0.9.96 updates NatureServe for its new API
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between mlr3proba and taxize?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. mlr3proba and taxize 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 mlr3proba better than taxize?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. mlr3proba and taxize 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 mlr3proba?
Top mlr3proba alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "mlr3proba alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/mlr3proba for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to taxize?
Top taxize alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "taxize alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/taxize for the full list with editorial commentary on each.