<div dir="auto">If you are playing then Maperitive might be interesting. It can display on a screen or more interesting for you create output that can be tiled.<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The nice part is you get extreme flexibility.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><a href="https://www.commotionwireless.net/">https://www.commotionwireless.net/</a> will let you build a test internet. Just putting the machines on the same lan or wifi router will allow them to talk to each other on the network. You may have fun attempting to get them to see each other. Unix server software is free and other machines should be able to reach it. I have had a laptop with 8 gigs of memory configured in this way.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">To start with any hardware you have lying around. My test network is a couple of refurbished Dell laptops direct from dell. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Basically there is no difference between a server, a desktop or a laptop other than ECC memory and the software can't tell the difference. The operating systems have the same basic core but the server editions allow you to do a few more things. Refurbished dell servers will get you the operating system but make sure it is included.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">What this means is you can get it working on desktops or laptops then copy it to a production server at later date.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Have fun.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Cheerio John</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 22 Oct 2017 4:47 pm, "Carlos Cámara" <<a href="mailto:carlos.camara@gmail.com">carlos.camara@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div>Thanks for your quick response, John.<br><br></div>You're right that my requirements are quite basic. That's because I am not sure about the basics and I prefer going step-by-step (I'm sure my questions will be more specific the more I know about the process). My idea was to create a map (raster or vector, don't know yet) that would display OSM data that is not displayed by current renders. I would skip anything related to smartphones, offline use or routing (although I would love to expore routing in the future), because it is too complex for me at this time.<br><br></div>I think I understand some of the basics: yes, I understand that I need a collection of tiles that need to be stored and served somewhere and that the requirements will vary enormously from zoom level and region (you made a good point in your email saying that I should start small and see the requirements and then scale it). I understand that in order to generate those tiles I need to create a style (don't know how -I've only seen two options here: either using mapnik styles or mapbox gl). But I am completely lost when it comes to specific tools to achieve those tasks.<br><br></div>So far I've discovered the following ones:<br><ol><li>Mapnik: allows creating styles and serving tiles.</li><li>OpenMapTiles: aparently is a tile server and allows creating custom styles. Seems to me that it could be a replacement for Mapnik.<br></li><li>T-rex: a tile server. I think it would require to generate tiles using another service/tool.</li><li>Maputnik: style editor for mapbox. I understand that resulting maps can only be used within a mapbox account.</li><li>MAperitive: I have just discovered it thanks to you. AFAIK is a desktop software that generates custom maps for offline use. If that would be true, it's not what I am looking for.<br></li></ol><div>Hope is clearer now.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Thanks again!<br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="m_-3077907618297007711gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Carlos Cámara<br><a href="http://carloscamara.es" target="_blank">http://carloscamara.es</a><br></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">2017-10-22 21:57 GMT+02:00 john whelan <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jwhelan0112@gmail.com" target="_blank">jwhelan0112@gmail.com</a>></span>:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div>Basically you need a collection of tiles. The load on the server will depend on the number of concurrent users and how many tiles they download.<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Initially I'd go with a small test server to prove the concept.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Maperitive runs under Windows and gives you a lot of flexibility. You should be able to generate tiles fairly easily. There is a mailing list for support.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Mapbox is commercial but having said that they have provided a lot of very valuable support to a nearby government agency and they can put all the bits together for you.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Do you want to provide routing and searching capabilities? Or is a raster map enough? A raster map is much like a printed one. Looks nice. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Do your end users have smartphones? Will they want to use the maps offline? If so look at OMand. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I'm not seeing your requirements at the moment and the constraints. Just how you want to build it and I think you need to step back and just confirm them.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div>Cheerio John<br><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="m_-3077907618297007711h5">On 22 Oct 2017 1:51 pm, "Carlos Cámara" <<a href="mailto:carlos.camara@gmail.com" target="_blank">carlos.camara@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"></div></div><blockquote class="m_-3077907618297007711m_8424304469053193331quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div class="m_-3077907618297007711h5"><div dir="ltr"><div>I would like to create a custom map for online use that loads OSM
data but displays it in different ways as the standard, cyclemap,
transport... layers.<br><br></div><div><p><strong>Some background: What I think I know so far</strong></p>
<p>I have made some research and, although I have to admit that I am
still quite confused, I have come to the conclusion that the process
outline may be the one that follows (with many variations):</p>
<ol><li><strong>Get the data.</strong> AFAIK, data can be downloaded either partially or globally from several sources, like <a href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Planet.osm" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank">Planet OSM</a> or <a href="https://openmaptiles.com/downloads/planet/" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank">OpenMaptiles</a>.
If I'm not wrong, data can be accessed online by querying it or using
services like Mapbox (see below) (correct me if I'm wrong).</li><li><strong>Style the map.</strong> Our data has to be styled according
to our needs. Again, if I'm not wrong, there are to different (not sure
if they are excluding or not) ways to do it: either using <a href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mapnik" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank">Mapnik</a> or <a href="https://www.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/style-spec/" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank">Mapbox GL</a>
(more on this below). In case that we opt for Mapnik we should create a
Mapnik style (a XML file that AFAIK has to be manually edited and seems
to be quite cumbersome for complex settings) and, in case we opt for
mapbox we can use either <a href="https://tilemill-project.github.io/tilemill/" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank">Tilemill</a> or the FLOSS editor <a href="https://maputnik.github.io/" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank">Maputnik</a>.</li><li><strong>Render the map</strong> in order to convert the data and
styles into an appealing map. This map can either be a raster map (which
will generate lots of tiles and will require the next step: tileserver)
or a vector map (which don't understand how it works other than inside
mapbox). Don't know how to do this. I assume that in case that we opt
for mapnik we need to have it installed in our server and execute a
command. In case of Mapbox I assume we need an account on their service. I have also found <a href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Rendering" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank">this exhaustive list of rendering options on OSM's wiki</a>, but haven't assimilated all that information yet.</li><li><strong>Serving tiles:</strong> the myriad of raster tiles that have
been generated in the previous step need to publicly available. In
order to achieve that a tileserver is needed. AFAIK, there are several
options here, being <a href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mapnik" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank">Mapnik</a>, <a href="http://t-rex.tileserver.ch/" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank">T-rex</a> or <a href="https://openmaptiles.org" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank">OpenMapTiles</a>
some of them. All of them require a custom server in which they need to
be installed. I'm assuming that this server requires a lot of RAM, CPU
and Disk space, but I don't have an idea of how much is "a lot" (I
assume it will vary "a lot" depending on the cover area and zoom level,
but do not have the slight idea not even for the whole world at city
level zoom or just one city area). </li></ol>
<p><strong>Conclusion:</strong></p>
<p>Provided that everything I wrote above is true, I see three excluding options:</p>
<ol><li><strong>Mapnik</strong> covers steps #2-#4 and needs a custom server to be installed
at and to host all the data (both, OSM data and generated tiles).</li><li><strong>OpenMapTiles</strong> cover steps #1-#4. Needs a custom server to be
installed at and to host all the data. Apparently seems easier to
setup and run that Mapnik.</li><li><strong>Mapbox</strong> covers steps #1-#3, since #4 is not needed, being that are
vector layers. Does not require any webserver but requires a paid
account. Don't know if it means that using Mapbox GL you are locked in Mapbox plattform.</li></ol>
<p>Don't know how does t-rex fit on this equation.</p>
<p>Does that make sense? Do you have some recommendations in how to achieve a custom map?<br></p>
<p>At this point I feel quite confused, since despite things start to
make sense to me, I have the feeling that I am missing some pieces of
this complex puzzle. Not to mention that I'm not sure if I am right,
though.</p><br></div><div>Regards,<br></div><div><br><br clear="all"><div><div class="m_-3077907618297007711m_8424304469053193331m_3758977271147287775gmail_signature">Carlos Cámara<br><a href="http://carloscamara.es" target="_blank">http://carloscamara.es</a><br></div></div>
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