[OSM-newbies] Starting with JOSM and OpenStreetMap in general

[Richard Fairhurst]

Rick Collins wrote:

> At 04:35 AM 10/10/2007, you wrote:
>> Rick Collins wrote:
>>
>> >> We tend to think of GPS logs as being primary survey evidence, editing
>> >> them beyond simply removing points breaks that assumption.
>> >
>> > I don't know who you are, but you sound as if you are speaking for
>> > the project.  If what you are saying is true, then you are asking
>> > that inaccurate data be entered rather than comparing it to maps to
>> > clean it up.
>>
>> No, he's saying that currently, all GPS logs stored on OSM servers are
>> definitely free of any rights problems. If you upload GPS logs which you
>> have not personally collected with a unit, that becomes no longer
>> necessarily true.
>
> He said that points from the raw data are only culled (removed) and
> none are edited (moved).  I can't imagine that a GPS track of any
> reasonable size would not have points which need to be cleaned
> up.  If you don't, you will have inaccurate data.

Oh, for goodness' sake.

The OSM modus operandi is:

1. Survey, taking notes and using GPS to record tracklog
2. Upload tracklog to server (partly as evidence of passage)
3. Use tracklog and notes to help you draw the road ("way")
4. Repeat in true wiki style until accurate result achieved

In the great majority of cases we do not automatically convert from  
tracklogs to ways. There is therefore no reason to remove or move  
points within a GPS tracklog. If a GPS trackpoint is visibly out of  
place, as happens, you simply don't trace your way over it.

Either you are deliberately misunderstanding what people are saying,  
or you have made absolutely no effort to understand what happens  
before shooting your mouth off. (Just as, it seems, you did by  
unilaterally starting a Yahoo group without even bothering to Google  
for "openstreetmap forum".) Neither is a particularly good way to  
engage in debate.

> Heck, I already have access to inaccurate data, Tiger, the maps that
> came with my GPS, etc.  Yet another database of poor data helps no one.

Your confrontational attitude is increasingly tiresome. It is also  
inappropriate for the newbies list, which is here to help people with  
practical questions about OSM mapping, not to argue about whether OSM  
processes could be improved.

If you have serious questions about the direction of the project they  
are better placed on the talk or dev list. Alternatively, as you seem  
so disdainful of everything that OSM has done, perhaps you might like  
to start your own project to show us what we're doing wrong.

Richard
newbies moderator