[OSM-dev] disputed areas

[Richard Fairhurst]

Frederik Ramm wrote:

>> If, as has been suggested, he's an "anonymous" Greek Cypriot, he's
>> using JOSM. Potlatch doesn't allow anonymous users to edit.
>
> BTW, has there been any feedback on the issue after you made the
> switch, Richard?

Not really! I've not heard anyone say "I don't use Potlatch now my  
edits are attributed". But the good news is that the mutterings of  
"damn anonymous Potlatch users screwing up my city" have largely  
stopped. Now if a newbie makes a mistake - and there was one such  
highlighted on IRC last night - then they can be contacted to explain.

I also get the impression that people actively like being able to see  
more of an object's history now there are fewer anonymous users  
around. The 'H' (history) option in Potlatch appears to be used more  
for consulting history than actually reverting!

> I was thinking of doing a once-per-session client-side check in JOSM
> and disallowing uploads for non-public users. That way we'd force the
> majority of users to go public, and still leave a backdoor open for
> those that don't want to (they can get the JOSM source and remove the
> check, or commit updates directly).

Sounds a great idea. I guess the one problem is if Mr Anonymous PITA  
from southern Cyprus (or wherever) decides he still needs to be  
anonymous, and therefore commits updates via the API, he's more  
likely to cause consequential damage if there are bugs in his  
"client". But that's not your problem as JOSM maintainer. ;)

cheers
Richard