[openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website] Add OpenLocationCode to OSM website (#1807)

[Mehrad Mahmoudian]

mmahmoudian left a comment (openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website#1807)

Here are my two cents:

Imho it is wrong to think that [geo URI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geo_URI_scheme) is even comparable to [OpenLocationCode (OLC)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Location_Code). Here are the major issues with geo URI (correct me if I'm wrong):
1. it is long and full of numbers and digits (more bits to transfer, especially from behind the phone or in QR code)
2. you cannot define the resolution and scope. It is one specific precise location on the map. In OLC you can only "zoom in" to the level of details you want (e.g., entire building, part of the parking lot, ...). For example, for a building, the precise location is useless. The level of information needed is just the land area in which the building is located on. Any further information would cause confusion (have happened to me several times as I thought the person was pointing at the entrance, were in fact they just pointed at the rough location of their office in the building).

Apart from all these, the geo URI is not even properly accessible in OSM (from general user perspective and usability). For instance, try these in both OSM and Google Maps and see which one is easier for non-technical users to find it on the map and produce a link to attach to an email:
1. search "University of Oxford" in OSM (and compare the [location with what Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/place/University+of+Oxford/@51.7570427,-1.2574972,16z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x4876c6a9ef8c485b:0xd2ff1883a001afed!8m2!3d51.7570429!4d-1.2545179!16zL20vMDd0Z24?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkyOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D) shows you)
2. Search for "Oxford University Museum of Natural History" (this is one specific building instead of a campus). generate a geo URI or any other interoperable thing that can be used in an email to indicate the building and the user can open it in their preferred map software rather than being tied to OSM.

Just to illustrate how OLC can work for the "Oxford University Museum of Natural History" in OLC:
The neighborhood: https://plus.codes/9C3WQP5V+
One more level of higher resolution: https://plus.codes/9C3WQP5V+CJ
Two more level of higher resolution: https://plus.codes/9C3WQP5V+CJR


If we are advocating for openness (which I believe we do), we should also avoid creating a platform that traps and locks-in the user and force them to stay in the platform. That's where geo URI, OpenLocationCode, and others come into the picture. That is where it is important to let the user to choose the URI/URL/identifier that is accepted cross-platform and is suitable for their needs. Therefore, we need to have better implementations for both geo URI and OLC and make it really reasily accessible, so that a non-technical user can immediately figure out how to share the location. OSM thankfully already support searching for geo URI, and I hope it at some point supports OLC too.

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