[HN Gopher] OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20
___________________________________________________________________
OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20
Author : gemanor
Score : 381 points
Date : 2024-08-11 06:00 UTC (17 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (stevecoast.substack.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (stevecoast.substack.com)
| Nic0 wrote:
| Damn, I hate those news, it make me fell old. I did some editing,
| maybe 15 years ago when I was on a LUG (Linux User Group, does
| this exists anymore ?). Good time.
| mindracer wrote:
| LUGs still exist I regularly attend my local one
| nyyp wrote:
| I'm very glad OpenStreetMap is still around. It has often
| contained data that I couldn't easily find elsewhere, and I've
| enjoyed being able to contribute to the places I care about.
| punnerud wrote:
| I love that you can host your own version of OpenStreetmap, and
| even create a street address lookup from coordinates (reverse
| geocode) only with a bit of Python and SQLite, using the OSM
| data: https://github.com/punnerud/rgcosm
| karussell wrote:
| Also have a look into this work:
| https://nominatim.org/2023/02/06/nominatim-lite.html
| politelemon wrote:
| OSM is the only implementation of maps that has been done with
| privacy in mind. It's a real shame that DDG chose to drop it for
| a much worse alternative.
|
| OSM has been an absolute necessity when out hiking in the sticks,
| and knowing that someone has done work to map this trail out
| without expectations from me. It's also led to many useful
| derived maps like public toilets and parking and accessibility.
| I've always made it a point to try and contribute back whenever I
| can.
| circularfoyers wrote:
| I believe they did it because OSM in most places is very
| outdated or even non existent for businesses, which was
| probably one of the top uses of it in a search engine.
|
| Having contributed quite a lot to OSM, I can say though that it
| was generally a lot better for hiking tracks than Google maps.
| hk__2 wrote:
| Agreed. For up-to-date info on businesses I rely on Google
| Maps, but for hiking it's totally useless compared to OSM. I
| still buy some "official" paper maps of the area I hike in
| because I've had bad surprises with OSM, mostly because some
| mappers sometimes invent some paths based on outdated, blurry
| aerial imagery, with no real experience of the area. I wish
| there were a tag like checked_at on paths to mark those that
| were verified vs. those that were only drawn on Bing Imagery.
| enigmo wrote:
| there are tags for this but I don't see it used much around
| here, see
| https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:check_date as a
| starting point
| zikduruqe wrote:
| I'm an avid cyclist and always update routes, document drinking
| fountains, shelters, bicycle repair stations and update
| businesses that I see need it.
| Tachyooon wrote:
| Thanks for all your input! How long does it usually take you
| to complete a single update? I'm curious about helping out
| with the effort in my neighbourhood.
| thefz wrote:
| Having an offline, updated map in my pocket is invaluable when
| hiking and cycling in the mountains. I have been contributing to
| it as much as I can, to at least give something back.
| kjrfghslkdjfl wrote:
| Currently, I use google maps "offline maps" for this. However,
| one thing it can't do is give you directions in offline mode.
| Meaning, I can have the map in offline mode but not ask it to
| find me a path from A to B.
|
| Do you know of an OSM app that can do this is offline mode?
| bdjsiqoocwk wrote:
| Do you know of an OSM app that gives directions to get from A
| to B, and works offline?
| lolc wrote:
| I primarily use Osmand. Organicmaps is another option.
| bdjsiqoocwk wrote:
| Which one is better? Coming from someone who doesnt know
| much about OSM, what I immediately notice is that accoridng
| to the play store osmand has in-app payments whereas
| organic maps doesn't.
| pwg wrote:
| > Which one is better?
|
| The answer there likely dives too much into personal
| preferences to be a "one size fits all" answer.
|
| Both are available on f-droid, so just try both and pick
| the one you prefer:
|
| Osmand: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.osmand.plus/
|
| Organic Maps:
| https://f-droid.org/en/packages/app.organicmaps/
| thefz wrote:
| Osmand is free, in app purchases are for larger offline
| download map size and other things, IIRC.
|
| https://osmand.net/docs/user/purchases/
| fizwidget wrote:
| I'd summarise it like this: * Organic Maps: simpler,
| nicer, more intuitive UI. Better for most general use
| cases. * OsmAnd: a somewhat clunky UI, but more powerful
| and flexible. Better for advanced use cases.
|
| Organic Maps is a better starting point IMHO.
| heffer wrote:
| OsmAnd
| bad_username wrote:
| Organic maps.
| jesperlang wrote:
| OSM has the potential to be the open, available source of truth
| for so much of our data. From there, we can simply build curated
| UIs that displays what we need (keep in mind that OSM is not a
| "map"). Opening hours for example. Today this info is either on a
| webpage or google maps. Sometimes contradicting each other, where
| a Facebook status update has the most accurate info.
| eisa01 wrote:
| Which makes it a shame that Overture's Place data don't contain
| the opening_hours:
| https://github.com/OvertureMaps/schema/discussions/243
|
| (Overture is a "standardized" version of OSM, except for the
| Places data where they use Microsoft and Meta data)
| hk__2 wrote:
| Unfortunately OSM doesn't solve the problem if the POI owners
| don't use it; and in my experience they often don't even know
| it exists. Even in my densely-populated area with tons of OSM
| contributors a lot of POIs are still outdated because
| restaurant and store owners care only about their
| website/Instagram/FB or Google Maps and don't know about OSM.
| When I started contributing ~12 years ago a main contributor
| used to say it was a waste of time to map restaurants because
| the data quickly becomes outdated if nobody's there to check; I
| don't know if he still thinks the same.
| globular-toast wrote:
| This will be massively controversial I'm sure, but I'm
| starting to think it should be illegal for companies to get
| the (unpaid) public to contribute to their own private
| database. Those store owners don't want to make the data
| available to Google, they want to make it available to the
| public. Companies like Google are abusing the public to
| further their own goals at the detriment to us all. Pay
| someone to do it? Fine. It's yours. Get it from the public?
| Then it's public data and you have to make it available to
| the public.
| hollow-moe wrote:
| that sweet database of cell towers and wifi networks
| collected by all the android devices around the world for
| precise GPS localization
| pietervdvn wrote:
| I'm trying to build this with https://mapcomplete.org
| Ruthalas wrote:
| If you appreciate OSM, consider installing the StreetComplete
| mobile app[0]! It lets you contribute to OSM in a very simple
| manner, via simple questions like, "Is there a marked crosswalk
| here?"
|
| I'm not affiliated, I just think it's cool. It's very satisfying
| to complete quests in your local area.
|
| [0] https://streetcomplete.app/
| eisa01 wrote:
| And until there's an iOS version [1], you could try EveryDoor -
| especially great for POIs
|
| [1] https://github.com/orgs/streetcomplete/projects/1 [2]
| https://every-door.app
| raybb wrote:
| For folks not too familiar with OSM, POI are points of
| interest, usually shops, parks, water access, restroom, etc.
| Just one point and a few labels. Much easier to map on the go
| than sidewalks or buildings that require more precision.
| deng wrote:
| Yes, I can also confirm that it's a great way to lose weight,
| as it gives long walks a sense of purpose. ;-)
| nurgasemetey wrote:
| Is it normal that website gives 403 Forbidden?
| ainonsense44 wrote:
| No
| Freak_NL wrote:
| StreetComplete is fun for casual contributions, but what OSM
| really needs is good local mappers. You can tell when a place
| has local mappers updating and monitoring changes in the real
| world. Even just taking care of the coming and going of shops
| is really useful. People who visit your area using apps like
| OsmAnd and OrganicMaps use that data!
| xethos wrote:
| I cannot describe [0] my pleasure and satisfaction when,
| visiting Germany, we found an icecream shop closed. We'd
| stopped by with the assumption Google Maps would have the
| correct hours; they did not, and we carried on without
| icecream. OSM, on the other hand, correctly showed the shop
| as closed for the day.
|
| [0] I can't, but my fiancee used the words "impossibly smug"
| dtech wrote:
| I mean, both rely on community contributions for this sort
| of thing, so it feels weird to be smug about this... It
| just depends on who decided to put the correct hours in.
| xethos wrote:
| "Smug" was mostly tongue in cheek. More than anything, it
| was a breath of fresh air seeing OSM, a product so
| heavily reliant on it's community, beating out one of the
| most well-funded corporations on our planet.
|
| Google has satellite views, they run their own network of
| vehicles to gather streetview data at a _planetary_
| scale, they follow every Android user (with Google
| Services installed) to know popular locations, new and
| closed businesses, likely opening hours, travel times,
| and more. They (at one point) pushed users to update
| store information, and then (from everything I 've heard)
| charge out the ass for embedding a Google Map view.
|
| I am _ecstatic_ that we have a free-as-in-beer, donation
| and corporate sponsorship funded, open-for-all map that
| not only can go blow-for-blow with this absolute
| _behenoth_ , but in this case actually _won_.
|
| So while "smug" may be overselling it, "thrilled" would
| not be
| mrln wrote:
| Is OSM not free-as-in-freedom?
| xethos wrote:
| AFAIK it is, but I thought I'd stick to claims I was all
| but certain of when posting from mobile and (because of
| that) not fact-checking
|
| Bit of an ironic one to leave out though, considering my
| preferences with most of the software I use and enjoy.
| mathstuf wrote:
| "Smug" is what I would give the Google Maps response that
| I submitted when we came across a store closed due to
| wrong hours (in Seattle). I sent a picture of the hours
| plate and the response was "nah, we think Google Maps is
| correct here". I stopped submitting error corrections to
| Google after that.
| netsharc wrote:
| When a huge highway bridge collapsed in Genoa, I checked
| OSM a few hours later, and someone had already updated the
| road segment as permanently closed
|
| Video has clips of the bridge falling and aftermath:
| https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53628580
| ygra wrote:
| Google cheats here, though. They were able to show a
| recently completed bridge as completed simply by the fact
| that traffic was passing over it. OSM still had it within
| half an hour of opening, though.
| Freak_NL wrote:
| The other way around is where OpenStreetMap is faster
| though. With Google a road which is closed (or gone) for
| a longer while means someone has to report it and Google
| employees verify it. Doing this automatically based on
| traffic dropping to zero is not really possible, because
| the algorithm doesn't know _why_ traffic is rerouted or
| for how long. This can take a while depending on the
| number of people reporting it to Google. OpenStreetMap
| mappers can act autonomously much faster (errors are
| sometimes made, but often picked up and reverted just as
| fast for high profile stuff).
|
| Google actually fucks up royally when a road below the
| level of a motorway/freeway is closed and formally
| withdrawn from public use, but still sees some traffic
| (by people illegally using it and people with legitimate
| goals like construction workers). There is a road near me
| where this is the case. Google will happily route cars
| over a road where one of the two lanes is in use as a
| soil depot for the nearby housing developments, and gates
| on both sides block the road. Those gates are shoved
| aside or bypassed by driving through the grass by a
| handful of simpletons. A bit of observation during a walk
| there showed me two cars passing there illegally; a
| postal worker and a power utility guy. Two types of road
| users who likely use Google Maps quite a lot, and drive
| up the virtual traffic there.
|
| On OpenStreetMap this road is simply closed and limited
| to private use (i.e., the construction workers hauling
| soil), and has been for a number of years now.
| AlpineG wrote:
| Google took about 6 months to accept my edit to an
| incorrectly named park near me. I took pictures of the
| signs as proof of course I could not submit them as
| evidence but a thought someone else would report it. In
| OSM I could change it in a few minutes and I am not very
| familiar with the tool.
| sabas_ge wrote:
| That contribution was initially done by me :-)
| kaba0 wrote:
| Google has been atrocious all across Europe ever since
| Covid. They used to have (maybe still do?) this local guide
| thingy, but this empathetic contribution doesn't feel good
| for a for profit company.
| michaelt wrote:
| At one point Google developed a spam problem with map
| contributions, IIRC.
|
| Some assholes worked out it was pretty profitable to (for
| example) create a '24 hour emergency locksmith' pins all
| over the country, with no real physical presence, then
| pass the business on to a real locksmith a few towns
| over, while taking a cut.
|
| Once people find it's profitable to provide fake user
| contributions and you have to start policing them, I
| imagine the value of user contributions drops
| significantly...
| carlosjobim wrote:
| It's the business owners responsibility to publish their
| opening hours on Google Maps, Apple Maps and on the web.
| Most don't give a damn about their own business, at most
| putting their hours on Google Maps if they remember.
| SideburnsOfDoom wrote:
| I do this local mapping, and I also use StreetComplete.
|
| I find it's not one of the other, it's "Why not both?"
|
| e.g. new coffee shop opened down the road? I'll take a
| picture of it on my phone, go home and open
| https://www.openstreetmap.org/, click "edit" and add it,
| along with info from the phone photo (Shop name, Address,
| phone number, and a website if I can find one).
|
| The next time I'm nearby, StreetComplete will prompt me for
| other key info such as opening hours.
|
| They compliment each other.
|
| On the one hand, the full OSM experience is much richer than
| StreetComplete.
|
| On the other hand, StreetComplete is a gateway drug to it,
| and also a useful accessory to it.
| linker3000 wrote:
| This is how I work.
|
| Having a dog means that I can record updates and additions
| as I walk varied routes around the area.
|
| Updating the map later using its Web interface is very
| satisfying and much more worthy than doomscrolling through
| social media (which I don't really do anyway).
| andrepd wrote:
| Re: shops/businesses, it would be nice if we could find
| somehow a way of having businesses themselves update their
| details: just basic stuff like opening hours and contacts.
| Not sure what's the solution for this though. One half of the
| solution certainly is just a convenient (web) UI for this,
| minimal friction just go to this website, enter your info,
| and click okay. But the other half is even making businesses
| aware that this is a thing. Mailing flyers with a QR code? x)
| SideburnsOfDoom wrote:
| Absolutely. _In Theory_ a business could make an OSM
| account and just go and update their own details on
| www.openstreetmap.org.
|
| From my point of view this is easy. But as we have seen by
| the experience of how bad restaurant websites are, this is
| a significant barrier for these businesses.
|
| I'm not knocking them: I couldn't run a restaurant; it's
| just different skills and experience. It's on the software
| people to make the software easy enough for restaurant
| people to use.
| ygra wrote:
| But surveying shops coming and going works really well with
| StreetComplete as well (check the places overlay).
|
| Besides, the app is such a wonderful gateway drug to OSM that
| even if the only benefit at the end of the day from most
| mappers were road surfaces and building levels, there's still
| a few people who become good mappers beyond StreetComplete. I
| started with SC in March 2021. By now nearly no quests remain
| in my village, nearly every building has proper building and
| roof colours, I have far more changesets by now with JOSM and
| I strive for at least one changeset every day.
|
| I won't touch bus routes, though. They're scary.
| pacbard wrote:
| Local mapping is surprisingly difficult. I believe that the
| commercial products (i.e., Google Maps) are viable only
| because there are strong incentives for people (e.g.,
| business owners, property owners) to submit edits as they are
| the main way that people search for them. Without that, you
| get into a limbo where you have data but it's not the most
| updated one.
|
| By the way, not even government agencies have good geo data,
| even when they should. I needed up to date address
| information for work, so I bought a map from my local county
| assessor's office. In my mind, the assessor should have the
| most recent data on properties, as their main mission is to
| collect taxes annually. I was wrong. Their data is about 4 to
| 5 years wrong, with whole "new" subdivisions missing from
| their inventory. Google Maps kind of has them on the map; I
| believe that their geolocation data comes from real estate
| platforms when new houses are on the market. OSM is about 10
| years behind in my area. I am submitting edits as I find
| them.
|
| If someone has a better idea on where to find address data,
| please let me know.
| tacostakohashi wrote:
| The assessor's mission is all about parcels and tax lots
| though. For that purpose, it's not 4 to 5 years wrong, it
| is current, but they don't care what the "address" is. Not
| all parcels have an address, or are on a street. The only
| addresses they care about are where to send the bill.
| maxerickson wrote:
| OpenStreetMap barely has any users in many areas. It seems
| likely enough that a modest amount of traction would lead
| to people noticing out of date information much more
| quickly.
| freyfogle wrote:
| be the change you want. Start fixing your area.
| SideburnsOfDoom wrote:
| That's how I approach OSM: I can't fix the world, but I
| can keep my own local patch up to date.
|
| Other people do other things, and that's great too.
| maxerickson wrote:
| I added all the shops and addresses once already. Seems
| fine to not be all over keeping them up to date if there
| aren't that many users.
|
| I have been focusing on adding POIs throughout the US.
| Probably only a few tens of thousands so far though.
| wcedmisten wrote:
| Maybe try the National Address Database?
|
| https://www.transportation.gov/gis/national-address-
| database...
| hnarn wrote:
| > Even just taking care of the coming and going of shops is
| really useful.
|
| This is exactly why I contribute to OSM and add/remove/fix my
| favorite restaurants, bars etc. in the city I live in. I feel
| like I'm doing three nice things at a time: helping local
| companies, making travel better for tourists, and sticking it
| to $the_man[1]
|
| [1]: whatever corporation is currently responsible for
| sucking up data on what beer I drink, what pizza I eat, and
| what clothes I wear, so they can cross-references it with my
| haircut, circle of friends and lidar-scanned calves
| measurements from my robo-vacuum while i'm taking a shit to
| sell me keyrings and usb-cables from china
| jcynix wrote:
| > consider installing the StreetComplete mobile app [...]
|
| I'll second that and I'd add the tip to install its companion
| app StreetMeasure too in order to measure things like the width
| of a street or the length of other things.
|
| When on holidays or a weekend trip visiting places I often use
| StreetComplete to add missing data while walking around with my
| wife. And recently in the South of France I had to answer
| questions about the width of rather small streets in an old
| town center where my guesses wheren't very good. Then
| StreetComplete suggested that I use StreetMeasure and I got
| much better estimates.
| ygra wrote:
| I carry a laser distance meter for that sort of things. Also
| wall/hedge/fence heights, etc. Besides, you can just ... not
| answer certain quests if you're unsure of the answer (or need
| to use estimation - there's tagging for estimated widths, but
| it's not used by StreetComplete). But I also found it handy
| to figure out the sizes of common paving stones, which makes
| sidewalks rather easy to measure without actually measuring
| :)
| bartread wrote:
| Sadly does not seem to be available in iOS App Store in the UK
| or I would love to.
| eddyg wrote:
| Try https://every-door.app/
| bartread wrote:
| Excellent, thank you!
| m4rtink wrote:
| Can really recommend StreetComplete - really fun to use & using
| it right now on a day trip to improve a less mapped area. :)
| PontifexMinimus wrote:
| Google Maps used to have geolocated pictures taken by users
| (IIRC this was called Panoramio). If OSM had an app that
| allowed you to take photos and they'd be automatically uploaded
| with location, that'd be great.
| ygra wrote:
| Mapillary or Kartaview are the typical choices here to add
| free street-level imagery which can then be used for OSM
| purposes as well.
|
| What also works is Wikimedia Commons. There's a good mobile
| app. You can take pictures of a POI, upload them and later
| associate them with that object in OSM (or via Wikidata).
| weightedreply wrote:
| Thanks for sharing! I'm glad there is an FDroid version. I
| think I'll enjoy this while on walks. It's like gamification
| for map stewardship.
|
| I remember when OpenStreetMap was new. I added a short missing
| footpath in my neighborhood at the time. It was a shortcut
| between homes. Today that same path even displays a very slight
| 1deg turn. Amazing.
| IndySun wrote:
| I use GoMap!!. It's comprehensive and a little clunky to use. I
| had not heard of streetcomplete. A quick suggests it is similar
| but a welcome alt.
| yonatan8070 wrote:
| Turns out I have new mini-hobby now, thanks!
| moffkalast wrote:
| All hail OSM, the only online mapping service that actually lets
| you access the raw tile server for completely free without any
| login or tokens or anything, making it the absolute ideal for app
| integration. May it stay funded forever and maybe get some
| satelite data one day. Completely unironically.
|
| Honestly it is a bit surprising that there hasn't been like a
| government programme or a crazy billionaire wanting to improve
| their image somewhere that would launch a rideshare cubesat and
| have it continuously record an actually open source dataset for
| all.
| pastage wrote:
| There are lots of government programs doing that, lots of
| companies trying to compete with Google has invested in OSM.
| The success really is that it has all gone into OpenStreetmap.
|
| OSM could do a better job acknowledging these partners, but
| honestly Steve Coast is right it is the people of OSM that
| matters. The companies and government are only a very small
| part of OSM.
| deng wrote:
| The amount of data OSM has nowadays is a treasure. It's just a
| shame that there's no well done generic web frontend that would
| make all this data accessible in a way that could rival Google
| Maps. The official openstreetmap.org web site just provides bare
| functionality with an almost unusable search, and otherwise
| focuses on editing OSM data.
|
| Probably the best generic "frontend" for OSM is Organic Maps,
| which however is confined to Android and iOS. I think if there
| would be a web version of Organic Maps, this could greatly
| accelerate OSM adoption.
| pietervdvn wrote:
| It depends on what exactly you want. Google Maps does more then
| just being a map, such as navigation, streetview, reviews,...
|
| In either case, I've heard quite some people being in love with
| Qwant Maps.
|
| And I try to get to build specialized maps with
| https://mapcomplete.org
| deng wrote:
| Qwant Maps is discontinued, sadly.
|
| Features I would want most from a web frontend for OSM:
|
| * Smarter search in the local area that is currently focused,
| with possibility to search for generic terms like "atm", "bus
| stop", "bakery", etc.
|
| * Display of shops/restaurants/markets/etc with additional
| information like opening hours (which are available in OSM,
| I've added a ton of it through StreetComplete and often
| wondered why I even bother as no one will ever see them). I
| can easily live without reviews, they are easily gamed and
| would need a ton of moderation.
|
| * Public transport information. There's currently work
| ongoing in Organic Maps to support this.
|
| * Navigation, yes, to some degree. I think this area is
| actually already quite well covered through services like
| Komoot, for instance. For car navigation, you probably will
| never beat Google Maps because of the available current
| traffic information there.
| seb1204 wrote:
| First three points heavily dependent on good local mapping
| and tagging of POI. The public transport is a topic that is
| very very hard for local mapping. There is little point in
| mapping 20 bus stops around me without adding details like
| network, business etc. these details again are often not
| easy to get. An public transport overlay would be better in
| my opinion.
| karussell wrote:
| May I recommend GraphHopper Maps? A bit routing focussed
| but soonish also for POIs:
| https://github.com/graphhopper/graphhopper-maps/pull/394
|
| Also addresses in the current view are more important when
| you search.
|
| Turn-by-turn navigation is also possible ... in the
| browser. See https://github.com/graphhopper/graphhopper-
| maps/pull/279
| Freak_NL wrote:
| Yeah, openstreetmap.org is a bit of an embarrassment for the
| community in its current state, although the search isn't too
| bad.
|
| OsmAnd and OrganicMaps are fortunately quite powerful and full-
| featured.
| aembleton wrote:
| I think mapy [1] is the best frontend I've seen for OSM. Its
| search still isn't as good as Google Maps though.
|
| They also have iOS [2] and Android [3] apps. I can't speak for
| the iOS app, but the Android one lets you download offline maps
| in a very space efficient way, similar to Organic Maps.
|
| 1. https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=-2.2989613&y=53.1629710&z=8
|
| 2. https://apps.apple.com/cz/app/mapy-cz-maps-
| navigation/id4114...
|
| 3.
| https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.seznam.mapy...
| afavour wrote:
| I feel like an ass just for saying it but I downloaded the
| iOS app at the map style is so... busy. Granted I'm in NYC so
| there's a lot going on but it's showing me every single bus
| stop (there are literally seven in a one block radius) and
| building outlines even when zoomed out. It's very visually
| overwhelming.
|
| This is something Google and Apple Maps really nail, I hope
| OSM can too at some point.
| beej71 wrote:
| I get what you're asking here, but I think it's important
| to note that OSM's primary value is in its data, not in a
| human-consumable map.
|
| So if I could respectfully amend your request, I'd say I
| hope some third party can really nail this at some point.
| Organic Maps is pretty good, but I still need Google maps
| for a number of things. But even if that doesn't ever
| happen, the free OSM data is invaluable in a large number
| of GIS contexts.
|
| (I'm an opinionated OSM contributor since 2007. :)
| jwagenet wrote:
| Neither mapy nor the default tileset should have maximal
| information. Perhaps you can argue google is primarily
| for navigation and default OSM is not, but that doesn't
| mean it should have all the OSM data represented at each
| layer.
| afavour wrote:
| > I think it's important to note that OSM's primary value
| is in its data, not in a human-consumable map
|
| I agree in theory but OSM _does_ have a human consumable
| map. I think it's in the projects interest for that
| default to be as good as it can be, rather than rely on
| third parties.
| jwagenet wrote:
| IMO the default OSM tileset is terrible and the mapy set
| seems to be the same/similar. I guess it's meant to show a
| lot of information, but the colors and patterns are noisy,
| the icons are too detailed, too many or too few things show
| up on the wrong layers. It's been this way forever.
| openrisk wrote:
| Indeed, discovering all the goodness people have built on top
| of OSM is not particularly easy, especially for non-technical
| users. A long list of OSM based services is available in the
| OSM wiki [0].
|
| A useful collection of links for non-technical users is hidden
| inside the streetcomplete app [1] (which itself is one of the
| most remarkable apps built on top of OSM). To find it, open the
| "my profile" view and then the "bookmark" icon). The list is
| unlocked gradually using some gamification (as a reward for
| completing quests). The complete list (for the impatient :-) is
| available here [2]
|
| [0] https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/List_of_OSM-
| based_servic...
|
| [1] https://f-droid.org/packages/de.westnordost.streetcomplete/
|
| [2]
| https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/blob/a09ae2...
| lol768 wrote:
| It's all a bit of a licensing nightmare as well, if you want to
| embed the maps.
|
| If you want actual FOSS, you need to be aware of which
| libraries to avoid (i.e. don't touch anything Mapbox with a
| bargepole anymore - to be honest, their anti-union, anti-open
| agenda put me off a few years ago regardless of the license
| change, which is a shame because they used to do really good
| work).
| Neil44 wrote:
| I recently started using TomTom amigo for car navigation in
| preference to Google maps and I noticed it uses openstreetmap
| data. Data seems good.
| izacus wrote:
| TomTom uses their own data though (they're a major provider of
| car navs and navigation devices).
| Freak_NL wrote:
| They are using OSM augmented with their own data. TomTom
| employs some mappers to fix issues they run into.
| AlexTrask wrote:
| Try using organic maps. Free software with OSM data
| wcedmisten wrote:
| I really enjoy using OSM for my projects! It can be a bit
| daunting to figure out how to use the data because there are so
| many different tools in the ecosystem. I wrote this article
| recently to help anyone looking to get started querying OSM:
|
| https://wcedmisten.fyi/post/how-to-query-osm/
| jcynix wrote:
| Nice intro, thanks!
| sylware wrote:
| I want a reasonably good, plain and simple C99 implemented, tile
| renderer.
|
| Is there any or I have to use the python3 one that to avoid to
| pull an abomination of c++ or rust compiler?
| tictacttoe wrote:
| First, happy customer of OSM and it's impressive what they've
| built! That said, I've noticed their company website field is
| sparsely populated.
|
| Any recommendations for acquiring the place website URL through
| an API or ethically scraping it at scale? I'm specifically
| wondering about options that wouldn't involve Google Places.
| lolc wrote:
| Read up on what OSM is before you scrape!
|
| And maybe Overpass will work for you:
| https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_API
| jcynix wrote:
| Adding (or correcting) opening hours for businesses, libraries,
| shops, etc in OSM is quite tedious sometimes IMHO.
|
| Maybe that could be a useful task for some AI? Pass it a photo of
| the data and a location and let it generate the needed additions
| to OSM ...
| smusamashah wrote:
| Is there a good UI for OpenStreetMap which is as good as Google
| Maps? I really want to contribute to OSM but the UI is not as
| simple as Google Maps. I do keep putting things on Google Maps
| but i have started to feel guilty about it.
| LucasBrandt wrote:
| StreetComplete is a really easy way to start contributing!
| Self-Perfection wrote:
| Best (simplest) options for contribution are:
|
| - StreetComplete - gamification of adding missing properties
| for existing objects. Consider it as most basic and limited
|
| - https://every-door.app/ - the best option to update and add
| amenities (shops, restaurants, etc) on the go.
|
| - iD browser editor available at https://www.openstreetmap.org/
| - you will need at least this complexity to add objects with
| geometry (linear or area)
| smusamashah wrote:
| I have both of these. Street complete is not for day to day
| use. That means I won't open it in time of need and find a
| chance to add something.
|
| Every door is a better one but still not as simple as Google
| Maps. I do believe we need an OSM wrapper which has as simple
| UI as Google maps.
| K2h wrote:
| On ios i have been a beta tester and use the free program go
| map!! [1] When out and about. I find it fast and fun for osm
| updates on the go.
|
| [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/go-map/id592990211
| cletus wrote:
| I fully support the OSM effort. Interestingly, through OSM and
| even Apple Maps you see just how difficult it is to build a
| mapping dataset.
|
| One story I heard was that the Chinese government intentionally
| makes its published maps inaccurate by basically offsetting it by
| a few meters. I'm not sure if this is still current. I'm not sure
| of the reasoning. It's not like it would stop an invasion if the
| highway was a few meters from where you thoguht it was. Anyway,
| to counter that humans basically had to adjust the published maps
| by overlaying them onto satellite photos to remove the error. AI
| helps with this but it's still labor intensive.
|
| IN addition to being labor-intensive, there are so many disparate
| data sources that you need to match up. Much of that data
| conflicts. The likes of Yelp and even Foursquare exist primarily
| by selling location data.
|
| Even something like listing the opening hours of a business is
| incredibly labor intensive. Google has (had?) a system where an
| AI would call the business to ask their hours of operation. I
| think they had to modify it to say it was an automated call.
|
| Oh you want directions? I guess you need accurate direction data
| for roads. You probably need to know where bike paths are.
| Different locales can define a bike path differently. In some
| places bikes can share the road with cars. In others they can't.
|
| You want to integrate public transit? Well, every place is going
| to have a weird API.
|
| It's a good example because something that seems so simple
| involves a ton of labor and integrating thousands of data
| sources.
|
| Disclaimer: Xoogler.
| dieortin wrote:
| > One story I heard was that the Chinese government
| intentionally makes its published maps inaccurate by basically
| offsetting it by a few meters
|
| It's still current but much more complex than this, and offsets
| can be of more than 500 meters (that's not just a few).
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_dat...
|
| I still don't think it makes much sense currently. I would
| guess any opposing army would get coordinates for a strike from
| satellite imagery, and not from maps (let alone Chinese ones)
| contrarian1234 wrote:
| It's a shame it's not become a bigger thing. I feel uptake has
| pretty much stagnated. The weird/pointless attribution
| requirement has really kneecaped them. A lot of open government
| data can not be relicensed under a more restrictive license and
| can't be injested. And if you want to use their data it's also
| inherently problematic when you need to watermark every map that
| uses OSM data
|
| I hope some day a truely open data set is compiled - b/c honest I
| find the attribution requirement doesn't even serve the function
| of giving the authors/contributors any kudos
| ygra wrote:
| Basically every service that provides maps requires
| attribution. The problem with OSM is that they cannot
| reasonably include other data with a license that also requires
| attribution at the usage site. That little >>(c) OpenStreetMap
| contributors<< in the corner would balloon into 600 different
| entries. Unless they all are fine with not being mentioned, but
| they typically do that not for free.
|
| There are a number of exceptions. A few CC-BY datasets can be
| used in OSM because the owner is fine with an entry on a Wiki
| page is sufficient attribution; Bing and Esri allow their
| aerial images to be used and only require the changeset to
| mention the source; etc. But each of those is a separate
| agreement.
| pietervdvn wrote:
| Another way to contribute is my project https://mapcomplete.org
|
| I'm trying to build a somewhat generic map view, which features
| many thematic maps (e.g. shops, restaurants, bicycle pumps,
| toilets, ...)
|
| Most data comes from OpenStreetMap, but it also allows to make
| changes, upload pictures, show wikipedia or make reviews with
| mangrove.Reviews
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2024-08-11 23:01 UTC)