[OSM-newbies] OSM Planet

[Tony Morris]

I am trying to work out what is required to have my own local planet
file then take diff updates.

Am I right in understanding that the planet is in a raw form as .osm
data (a single XML file?) and that the diffs are patches that I can
apply to this file? I see that it is possible to put the OSM data into
PostgreSQL, but this seems to be for rendering e.g. Mapnik. Are there
any other applications for this? i.e. fast querying of the data perhaps?

I'm just looking for where to get started. I understand I'll need to
get the initial Planet file from somewhere and it is too big to
download (or is it? anyone in the SE Queensland area have it on a HDD
that I could copy from?).

Thanks for any pointers.


-- 
Tony Morris
http://tmorris.net/