[OSM-newbies] Rendered two ways; why?

[James Ewen]

On Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 10:23 PM, Steve Dobson <steve at dobbo.org> wrote:

>>> Surely what is needed is a way of internationalising the symbology in
>>> OSM (and JOSM, ...).  I would like to see the symbols that I am already
>>> familiar and I expect that others would too.
>>
>> I would like to see familiar signage as well... but my familiar
>> signage doesn't look like yours.
>
> My point in a nutshell.

Well, you've said the exact opposite above. You are talking about
localizing, not internationalizing.

> Surly the best method would be to use a look-up table.  Each user could
> then pick the signs that they want.  Why shouldn't a Yankee mapping in
> Holland have signs that she is familiar with?   OSM could default based
> on the browsers' language settings, but allow customisation on the
> user's preference page.

>From my understanding, there are only a couple main map tile servers
out there. To be able to do what you desire, one would need to set up
a map server of each type for each localization. I don't think we're
there yet. Maybe in the future.

You can currently create your own map server to create maps based on
your rules, using your icons. Just don't expect every other map tile
server out there to show you the map tiles looking like your custom
tiles.

> With jOSM (Java) it is even simpler as the java.util.ResourceBundle
> class allows object to be returned not just text, and most programming
> languages have internationalisation methods that could be used I'm sure.

Yup, that can probably be done without too much fuss, but it's not
going to make the Mapnik or Osmarender tiles look any different.

James
VE6SRV