[OSM-dev] london tube stations

David Earl david at frankieandshadow.com
Fri Mar 16 10:11:29 GMT 2007


> > I think it would make it hard for renderers to know about every
> metro system
> > in the world.
>
> Why?  All it would take is the individual in the particular country to
> make a png for their logo and amend the render rules file.  OSM can
> really kick-ass in this arae and be a lot less generic than other
> online maps - I really think we should be aiming to adopt local
> cartography conventions where we can.
>

I'm not saying one shouldn't do this, merely that a generic tag would allow
those which don't have a specific logo to be rendered.

Yes, you can change the rules file, but that's just for your own map. In
practice, most users of the map will want it to be accessible: to get it
without programming (and changing the rules file is, in effect,
programming); and the slippy maps should show them. So the central style
sheets have to be changed to accommodate each metro system.

In theory, this wouldn't be too hard. Yet I have tried several times and
failed to get agreement to put basic things like schools put onto the
central osmarender. I don't want to unilaterally change the osmarender
slippy map style sheets (indeed I don't know how to replace them) for the
myriad of features that are missing, but I despair at how progress can be
made here. Adding custom logos for lots of variants of things just makes
this all the harder (consider also proposals for brand logos on fuel
stations; what about supermarket brand logos, etc. etc.).

So I'm just arguing that from a practical point of view, "something" is more
likely to happen than "everything", and a catch-all would be helpful.

Another point is that most brand logos are copyright. The London Underground
copyright is jealously guarded. Permission would probably have to be sought
for specific logos.

David.





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