[OSM-dev] Garmin GPX madness

[Richard Fairhurst]

Oliver Eichler wrote:

> you definetly missed to cite the last line of the original posting   
> "SCNR trolling ;)"

Hey, if I'm being slated for daring to take the piss, you can be too. ;)

> And how does that add to a valid discussion on how propperly   
> recorded GPS data would allow real track post processing? Not just   
> some subjective interpolation by the eye with reduced track   
> information.

Oh, sure, there's a debate to be had about whether or not recording an  
accuracy measurement is important for the quality of mapping that OSM  
is doing: and on that, I've already stated my viewpoint that, given  
the low quality of polylines drawn by numerous mappers, GPS drift  
(especially averaged over n tracks) is the least of our problems.

But the debate hasn't just been about that - it's gone to "I sincerely  
wonder why anyone in the community would buy a Garmin", or "why do you  
even care for these devices". And that risks elevating one factor  
(clearly important to some, not to others) to a sine qua non. OSM is,  
as ever, a broad church; we need to be a little careful about saying  
"you really must not buy a device without X,Y and Z", because that  
assumes that others' priorities are always the same as your own. I  
have no doubt that for the sort of surveying you like to do that DOP  
is important, but for me it ain't.

cheers
Richard