gps2gtfs
gps2gtfs spent a release making its docs stop describing functions it does not have.
A side-by-side editorial comparison of pedFamilias and pedmut — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
pedFamilias exists to read one legacy file format, and it has that job nearly finished.
pedFamilias holds the Familias file interoperability code that was split out of forrel, principally readFam() and writeFam(). The visible history is short and narrow: URL paths accepted as input, a deduplicate option for files produced by the Familias DVI module, better handling of extra individuals, and a fallback mutation model when stabilization fails. The most recent release is explicitly maintenance.
pedmut turns awkward mutation models into ones the likelihood engine can actually handle.
pedmut builds and transforms the mutation models used in pedigree likelihood calculations. Its recent arc is a toolkit of model transformations: makeReversible() with three methods, makeStationary() replacing the older stabilize(), adjustRate() for tuning overall mutation rate, and lumpMutSpecial() for lumping models that strong lumpability cannot handle. The most recent release is narrow, adding a programmatic output format to getParams().
pedFamilias holds the Familias file interoperability code that was split out of forrel, principally readFam() and writeFam(). The visible history is short and narrow: URL paths accepted as input, a deduplicate option for files produced by the Familias DVI module, better handling of extra individuals, and a fallback mutation model when stabilization fails. The most recent release is explicitly maintenance.
This is a package with a bounded remit. The format it parses does not change, so releases arrive only when someone encounters a file it mishandles, and the fixes are correspondingly specific. The interesting movement is upstream instead: forrel finally removed its deprecated readFam() re-export in 1.9.0, completing the split that created this package.
Expect continued low-frequency maintenance driven by real-world .fam files rather than any planned feature work.
pedmut builds and transforms the mutation models used in pedigree likelihood calculations. Its recent arc is a toolkit of model transformations: makeReversible() with three methods, makeStationary() replacing the older stabilize(), adjustRate() for tuning overall mutation rate, and lumpMutSpecial() for lumping models that strong lumpability cannot handle. The most recent release is narrow, adding a programmatic output format to getParams().
The consistent goal is making models satisfy the mathematical properties downstream algorithms require. Reversibility, stationarity, and lumpability each unlock something in pedprobr, and the package keeps adding ways to coerce an arbitrary model into having them. lumpMutSpecial() is explicitly incomplete, described as covering only some cases with more possibly to follow, which sets up the main open thread.
Expect additional special lumping cases to be implemented, since the package documents the current coverage as partial and pedprobr's likelihood performance depends directly on it.
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 pedFamilias or pedmut.
gps2gtfs spent a release making its docs stop describing functions it does not have.
ducksemantics puts an ontology graph and ColBERT retrieval inside DuckDB, callable from R.
dvir keeps making disaster victim identification a single call instead of a workflow.
pedbuildr reconstructs pedigrees from DNA, and it just got much faster at the search.
forrel is getting faster at the simulations forensic kinship work actually spends its time on.
pedprobr is the likelihood engine, and it keeps finding ways to compute what it previously could not.
See all pedFamilias alternatives → · See all pedmut alternatives →
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
Both compete on the same themes — forensic genetics, r packages — within Analytics. pedFamilias and pedmut 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.
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. pedFamilias and pedmut 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.
Top pedFamilias alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "pedFamilias alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/pedfamilias for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
Top pedmut alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "pedmut alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/pedmut for the full list with editorial commentary on each.