Fwiw, there's also something called the awesome lists ( https://github.com/sindresorhus/awesome, and see the R list here: https://github.com/qinwf/awesome-R), which is basically a kind of task views for any language, and controlled via git pull requests.
Not sure if this would be a good alternative, but judging by the nr of gh stars the awesome lists seem pretty popular. Personally, I almost always use Google/Google scholar when I need something. I use task views/awesome lists mainly when I get interested in some field and want to have a quick browse to see what's there. Once in a while I also need duckduckgo to escape the bubble. -M On Sun, Feb 12, 2017, 23:17 Spencer Graves < spencer.gra...@effectivedefense.org> wrote: > > On 2017-02-11 7:39 AM, J C Nash wrote: > > Certainly Google can be useful, but it can also be infuriatingly > > time-wasting when one needs to sort out related tools that do slightly > > different things. Then good, up-to-date task views are important, and > > wrappers such as I and some others are trying to develop can be a way > > to ease the chore of applying the tools or changing between related > > ones where there isn't enough information on which is best. > > > > Perhaps Jim, Spencer, and I (others welcome!) can come up with some > > small examples to show where Google / sos / other search tools and the > > task views (Julia?) can be illustrated to provide guidance. After all, > > the purpose of the UseR! session is to try to develop improved ways to > > access R's packages. > > > The sos vignette discusses searching for "Petal.Length" and > "spline", combining different searches, and writing the result to an > Excel workbook with sheets for a package summary, the individual help > pages found, and documentation of the actual search. > > > With luck, this session may catalyze the formation of a committee > with a vision for how to improve what we have and the commitment to do it. > > > Spencer > > > p.s. Someone complained that R was not a jungle. I'm therefore > proposing we consider changing the name of the session to something like > "Making R easier to use". John Nash thought the jungle analogy was > good, because CRAN and a jungle are both resource rich but navigation poor. > > > > > Cheers, John Nash > > > > On 2017-02-10 05:26 PM, Jim Lemon wrote: > >> This discussion started me thinking about searching for a function or > >> package, as many questions on the R help list indicate the that poster > >> couldn't find (or hasn't searched for) what they want. I don't think I > >> have ever used task views. If I haven't got a clue where to look for > >> something, I use Google. I can't recall an occasion when I didn't get > >> an answer, even if it was that what I wanted didn't exist. Perhaps we > >> should ask why Google is so good at answering uninformed questions, in > >> particular about R. I'm not the only person on the help list who > >> advises the clueless to try Google. > >> > >> Jim > >> > >> > >> On Sat, Feb 11, 2017 at 3:51 AM, Ben Bolker <bbol...@gmail.com> wrote: > >>> I definitely read the task views and advise others to do so. I > >>> don't know how representative my little corner of the world is, > >>> though. > >>> > >>> I have an embryonic task view on mixed models at > >>> > https://github.com/bbolker/mixedmodels-misc/blob/master/MixedModels.ctv > >>> but the perfect is the enemy of the good ... > > > What do you think about converting the Task Views into a wiki? > > > The Wikimedia rules do pretty well in inviting anyone to > contribute material, quickly and easily deleting obvious vandalism, > managing conflicts, and ensuring that the resulting articles are > noteworthy and high quality -- and no one person has to be responsible > for any specific thing. > > > Spencer Graves > >>> > >>> > >>> On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 9:56 AM, J C Nash <profjcn...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >>>> We'd be more than happy to have you contribute directly. The goal > >>>> is not > >>>> just an > >>>> information session, but to get some movement to ways to make the > >>>> package > >>>> collection(s) > >>>> easier to use effectively. Note to selves: "effectively" is > >>>> important -- we > >>>> could make > >>>> things easy by only recommending a few packages. > >>>> > >>>> Best, JN > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> On 2017-02-10 09:29 AM, Michael Dewey wrote: > >>>>> > >>>>> Dear all > >>>>> > >>>>> That seems an interesting session. I am the maintainer of one of > >>>>> the CRAN > >>>>> Task Views (MetaAnalysis) and will attend > >>>>> unless I am successful in the draw for Wimbledon tickets. > >>>>> > >>>>> Just in case I strike lucky one question I would have raised from the > >>>>> floor if I were there would have been "Does anyone > >>>>> read the Task Views?". Since I started mine I have received only a > >>>>> couple > >>>>> of suggestions for additions including a very > >>>>> abrupt one about a package which had been included for months but > >>>>> whose > >>>>> author clearly did not read before writing. So I > >>>>> would ask whether we need to focus much energy on the Task Views. > >>>>> > >>>>> So, maybe see you there, maybe not. > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> On 16/01/2017 14:57, ProfJCNash wrote: > >>>>>> > >>>>>> Navigating the Jungle of R Packages > >>>>>> > >>>>>> The R ecosystem has many packages in various collections, > >>>>>> especially CRAN, Bioconductor, and GitHub. While this > >>>>>> richness of choice speaks to the popularity and > >>>>>> importance of R, the large number of contributed packages > >>>>>> makes it difficult for users to find appropriate tools for > >>>>>> their work. > >>>>>> > >>>>>> A session on this subject has been approved for UseR! in > >>>>>> Brussels. The tentative structure is three short > >>>>>> introductory presentations, followed by discussion or > >>>>>> planning work to improve the tools available to help > >>>>>> users find the best R package and function for their needs. > >>>>>> > >>>>>> The currently proposed topics are > >>>>>> > >>>>>> - wrapper packages that allow diverse tools that perform > >>>>>> similar functions to be accessed by unified calls > >>>>>> > >>>>>> - collaborative mechanisms to create and update Task Views > >>>>>> > >>>>>> - search and sort tools to find packages. > >>>>>> > >>>>>> At the time of writing we have tentative presenters for > >>>>>> the topics, but welcome others. We hope these presentations > >>>>>> at useR! 2017 will be part of a larger discussion that will > >>>>>> contribute to an increased team effort after the conference > >>>>>> to improve the the support for R users in these areas. > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> John Nash, Julia Silge, Spencer Graves > >>>>>> > >>>>>> ______________________________________________ > >>>>>> R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list > >>>>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel > >>>>>> > >>>>> > >>>> > >>>> ______________________________________________ > >>>> R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list > >>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel > >>> > >>> ______________________________________________ > >>> R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list > >>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel > >> > >> ______________________________________________ > >> R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list > >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel > >> > > > > ______________________________________________ > R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] ______________________________________________ R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel