[Tagging] Interpreting "One feature, one OSM-object"

[Andrew Harvey]

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 5:43 AM, Nathan Edgars II <neroute2 at gmail.com> wrote:
> As for the specific question, I would say that if the boundary is
> defined by the natural feature, it's probably OK to use one way. For
> example, http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/way/78384443 is legally
> defined as "...to the water's edge of Little Lake Conway; thence run
> southeasterly along said waters edge to a point of intersection..."

On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 11:41 PM, John Smith <deltafoxtrot256 at gmail.com> wrote:
> The example I gave of the Murray River is one explicit example where
> the boundary is fixed the main flow of the southern bank of the river,
> regardless what happens to the river the boundary moves with it.
>
> Other water ways are the same, the boundary and the waterway are the
> same thing, for all intents and purposes and there is no good reason
> to separate them, in fact there is many good reasons to just leave
> them as is.

Yes, I also think there are many good reasons to leave them as is,
using a single way. But I can also think of reasons to have multiple
ways.

What happens if tags conflict then? For example just say the boundary
actually had a name, e.g. "X Y Border", but the river also has a
different name.