[p33p]

I would go as far as saying the tidyverse is an essential piece of working with R. Base R sans tidyverse is not a pleasant experience.

[disgruntledphd2]

It's not that bad. It's inconsistent and clunky, but all of the tools are there (and tend to be faster than the tidyverse versions). Don't get me wrong, I love the tidyverse but R is very, very usable without it.