[OSM-dev] Free mapping software

[bvh]

Hi,

as a test project to get acquainted with Qt4 I wrote a small mapping
program some time ago. After learning about Openstreetmap and the
enthousiasm for free mapping solutions I decided to at least clean it
up to make a quick release.

http://www.irule.be/bvh/c++/merkaartor/

I know the osm project has two free mapping software offerings already
(osmeditor2 and josm) But for the moment I think I know too little about
mapping to make a meaningfull contribution to them. I'd prefer to
learn a bit more and evaluate afterwards if there are bits in Merkaartor
that may end up usefull to fold into one of them.

For the next step I at least want to implement saving a map (currently
not possible; the project is very little developed). It would be
logical to use the .osm format. I need support for bezier segments for
that to work however since you can draw them in my program.

It seems there has been talk about using bezier segments.
 What's the status on that? Has there been a proposal
on how to represent bezier curves in .osm files? Is the bezier curve
defined in the lat/long coordinate space or in the projected coordinate
space? In the latter case, which projection? In fact how does that work
for straight lines? A segment (0;0)->(1;1) in (lon,lat) does that
pass through (0.5;0,5)  in (lon,lat) ? And should I thus draw it
not as a straight but as as a curved line depending on my projection?
What projection does mapping software use in general?

As you see, more questions than answers I am afraid... Hope you can
help a bit.

cu bart