[OSM-dev] Fw: Re: Merkaator port to Android

[Nick Whitelegg]

-----Forwarded by Nick Whitelegg/FT/Solent on 04/12/2011 11:53AM -----
To: jaak.laineste at gmail.com
From: Nick Whitelegg/FT/Solent
Date: 04/12/2011 11:53AM
Subject: Re: [OSM-dev] Merkaator port to Android

>- drawing draft lines and notes on top of that, saves it as GPX which
>needs postprocessing on JOSM

(Sorry, meant to send this to the list. Damn the email client! ;-) )

This is actually quite similar to an idea I had in mind for opening up OSM contribution to casual walkers/hikers. Such an app would record GPX (only). However, a user would be able to select the highway type (footpath, bridleway, cycleway etc) which would then be tagged in the GPX.

Then a JOSM plugin could be developed which reads these 'tagged' GPX files. Different highway types could be indicated with a colour scheme.
An 'expert' OSM contributor could then add said ways to OSM. Furthermore, if the GPXs are uploaded to a server too, the 'expert' could subscribe to an RSS feed
showing new GPX uploads in their area.

The success of such an app would appear to depend on
* whether the 'casual' walker is motivated to survey when it might take a few days for their contributions to appear on the maps and
* the availability of 'experts' and their motivation to add other people's contributions.

Nick