[openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website] Add OpenLocationCode to OSM website (#1807)
Lukas Sommer
notifications at github.com
Fri Jul 14 10:19:35 UTC 2023
> I remain concerned about the fact that there seems to be a small group of people here who are not otherwise interested in OSM-website development but who argue fervently in favour of OLC support.
If only those involved in actual code development for the website were allowed to participate in discussions, a public issue tracker wouldn't be necessary. Personally, I have a genuine interest in OSM, even though I don't specifically engage in website coding.
> From where I stand, OLC is very far away from being so commonplace that supporting it would make sense from a usability point of view
As @LaPingvino has aptly explained, this greatly depends on one's geographical location. In regions like Europe or North America, it is common to have addresses that people use for searching places. In contrast, in other continents like Africa, the situation is different. With the absence of widespread address systems, alternative methods are needed to search for locations. OpenLocationCode, despite its flaws, offers significant advantages over pure coordinates:
- No concerns about the order of latitude and longitude.
- No need to worry about which decimal separator (comma or full stop) to use.
These two points are in day-to-day practice very important advantages. In Africa, in the past often places where describes like "in this suburb, search this quarter, search the big Pharmacy with this or this name, go down the road, take the second road at the left, …". Currently, more formal organizations start to use coordinates instead of these descriptions, and OpenLocationCode is in practice a way to communicate coordinates much easier and less error-prone than writing them down as pure coordinates. It is being increasingly adopted.
I believe that the website should not be exclusively tailored to the needs of residents in Western countries. Instead, it should take into account the Global South on an equal level of consideration.
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