gps2gtfs
gps2gtfs spent a release making its docs stop describing functions it does not have.
Comparison · Analytics
pedtools vs ribd
A side-by-side editorial comparison of pedtools and ribd — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
pedtools vs ribd: at a glance
What is pedtools?
pedtools rewrote loop breaking and made a class of pedigrees analyzable for the first time.
pedtools is the foundation of the ped suite, holding the pedigree data structures every other package builds on. Version 2.11.0 revamped the loop breaking algorithm so founders can serve as loop breakers and one individual can break several loops, which makes likelihood calculations possible in pedigrees that previously could not be handled at all. Loop detection also became mandatory and faster, and the surrounding releases have steadily added query and construction helpers.
What is ribd?
The pedsuite's coefficient engine: broadening what it computes, then making the plots publishable.
ribd computes relatedness coefficients from pedigrees, covering kinship, inbreeding, kappa, condensed and detailed identity coefficients, and two-locus versions of several of these, in autosomal and X-chromosomal form. The IBD triangle is now drawable in base graphics, ggplot2 or plotly, with an optional inset pedigree, and custom relationships can be placed on it. The most recent release is dominated by correctness work, fixing pair ordering and row alignment in coefficient tables and edge cases for pedigree lists, unrelated individuals and self-pairs.
pedtools vs ribd: editorial side-by-side
pedtools
0.0ANALYTICS
pedtools rewrote loop breaking and made a class of pedigrees analyzable for the first time.
◆ Current state
pedtools is the foundation of the ped suite, holding the pedigree data structures every other package builds on. Version 2.11.0 revamped the loop breaking algorithm so founders can serve as loop breakers and one individual can break several loops, which makes likelihood calculations possible in pedigrees that previously could not be handled at all. Loop detection also became mandatory and faster, and the surrounding releases have steadily added query and construction helpers.
◆ Where it's heading
The package has been working toward this for over a year. Version 2.8.0 replaced the igraph-based loop breaker with a custom implementation, 2.8.1 made findLoopBreakers() substantially faster in large pedigrees, and 2.11.0 rewrote the algorithm outright. The new methods ship disabled by default while downstream packages catch up, which is a deliberately staged rollout rather than a flag day. Alongside that, the additive work is small, well-scoped helpers: children2(), addSibling(), isHomozygous(), trim(), nChildren().
◆ Prediction
Expect the new loop breaking methods to become the default once pedprobr, forrel, and dvir have all shipped support for them, since the only stated reason for the opt-in flag is downstream readiness.
ribd
2.5ANALYTICS
The pedsuite's coefficient engine: broadening what it computes, then making the plots publishable.
◆ Current state
ribd computes relatedness coefficients from pedigrees, covering kinship, inbreeding, kappa, condensed and detailed identity coefficients, and two-locus versions of several of these, in autosomal and X-chromosomal form. The IBD triangle is now drawable in base graphics, ggplot2 or plotly, with an optional inset pedigree, and custom relationships can be placed on it. The most recent release is dominated by correctness work, fixing pair ordering and row alignment in coefficient tables and edge cases for pedigree lists, unrelated individuals and self-pairs.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc runs from generality to presentation to precision. Early releases replaced narrow functions with general ones, most visibly when gKinship() absorbed generalisedKinship() and identityCoefs() superseded the separate autosomal and X-chromosomal identity functions in favour of an Xchrom argument. The middle stretch turned the IBD triangle into a proper plotting surface across three graphics systems. The current phase reads as consolidation, with the newest release listing six bug fixes against four features, several of them alignment errors in output tables, which is where a coefficient library most needs to be exactly right.
◆ Prediction
The two new internal functions in the latest release, inbreedingContributions() and ancestralKinship(), are the kind of thing that surfaces publicly a release or two later, so expect them to become exported decomposition tools. The correctness push through pedigree lists and edge cases suggests the near-term focus stays on hardening rather than new coefficient families.
Alternatives to pedtools and ribd
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 pedtools or ribd.
ducksemantics
ducksemantics puts an ontology graph and ColBERT retrieval inside DuckDB, callable from R.
dvir
dvir keeps making disaster victim identification a single call instead of a workflow.
pedbuildr
pedbuildr reconstructs pedigrees from DNA, and it just got much faster at the search.
forrel
forrel is getting faster at the simulations forensic kinship work actually spends its time on.
pedFamilias
pedFamilias exists to read one legacy file format, and it has that job nearly finished.
See all pedtools alternatives → · See all ribd alternatives →
Recent activity from pedtools and ribd
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 12d agoribdCustom relationships on the IBD triangle; six alignment and edge-case fixes
- 1mo agopedtoolsLoop breaking rewrite makes intractable pedigrees analyzable ⚡
- 6mo agopedtoolsGenotype comparison helpers and more flexible subsetting
- 9mo agopedtoolsmergePed() handles marker data; genotype removal simplified
- 1y agopedtoolssetSNPs() accepts genotypes; proband arrows in plots
- 1y agopedtoolstrim() prunes uninformative leaves; loop breaker search sped up
- 1y agoribdkappaIBD() can skip across-component pairs on large pedigrees
- 1y agopedtoolsigraph dependency dropped for a custom loop breaker
- 2y agoribdIBD triangle plots gain ggplot2 and plotly backends, plus inset pedigrees
- 3y agoribdTriangle line clipping, automatic plot margins, citation info
- 3y agoribdTwo-locus functions overhauled; twoLocusInbreeding and ELR added
- 4y agoribdIdentity coefficients unified behind identityCoefs() and an Xchrom argument
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between pedtools and ribd?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. ribd 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 pedtools better than ribd?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. ribd 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 Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to pedtools?
Top pedtools alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "pedtools alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/pedtools for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to ribd?
Top ribd alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ribd alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ribd for the full list with editorial commentary on each.