[OSM-dev] Data source for robot

[Andy Allan]

On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 6:53 PM, Jan Sandbrink <fischikowski at web.de> wrote:

> Are you serious?
> What about the guy that wants to use any kind of routing software to go from
> A to B?
> if streets are not connected in a place where nobody cares this means he
> will get redirected over some areas where people care.

And this is a great way to attract mappers (real, human people) to
help OSM get better. Editing the data automatically does nothing to
help us gain more mappers.

> Hell, this whole discussion looks like a witch-hunt. Because all robot-edits
> are the devil. And the general tone here is very discouraging for everyone
> that might think about investing time into OSM.

What we need more than anything is people out on the ground, mapping
their areas.  That's 99% of OpenStreetMap right there. I don't see how
this conversation has discouraged them.

What we also need are developers who can help with supporting these
mappers. There are many, many things that can be done that are
supremely helpful. But development work is only a tiny fraction of the
OSM project, and its goal is to support the mappers with what they
need to get their stuff done.

What we need least of all are people spending time developing
automated editors that bypass mappers and fiddle around with the data
for them. If this conversation discourages people from doing that, so
much the better.

Cheers,
Andy