[Tagging] Deprecation reasons - RFC

[Brian M. Sperlongano]

On Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 7:55 AM Simon Poole <simon at poole.ch> wrote:

> Am 25.01.2022 um 10:27 schrieb Florian LAINEZ:
>
> ..
> 1. The deprecation definition is currently formalized and well described
> <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Deprecated_features>: "A deprecated
> tag or deprecated feature is tagging that is recommended by OpenStreetMap
> community consensus for removal and replacement with other tagging."
> Therefore I don't understand when you say that "it's not a formal concept".
> I don't aim to change that definition at all. My only proposal is to
> better define the reasons behind a deprecation.
>
> ...
>
> That is text that was added by Brian just over a year ago.
>
> Anybody can add literally anything to the wiki, doing so doesn't make a
> concept formalized, a consensus or anything. You can argue that stuff on
> the wiki that has weathered well over the years does have some kind of
> standing, but given that essentially all wiki changes are stealthy and fly
> under the radar, the time to achieve such status needs to be a bit more
> than just a couple of months back.
>
...and after a year plus and over 30 subsequent edits yet it remains.  I
encourage anyone with better words to describe our reality to add them.
There are plenty of people that complain about what's on the wiki or
jawbone on the mailing lists, but far fewer willing to roll up their
sleeves and take their best shot at documenting the status quo.  That said,
I'm not sure what this phrase "formal concept" even means that you folks
are throwing around.  Do you mean "approved by a person or organizational
entity in a position of authority on the matter"?  By that definition, of
course, there are no formal concepts at all in OSM and it's disingenuous to
even argue the point.

I also agree with Mateusz that a number of the rationales listed for
deprecation are problematic and vague and would not be appropriate to
include as part of a description of what deprecation means.  Even more
strange are the numeric codes listed for each deprecation reason - for what
purpose could that possibly be useful or wanted?  (this is rhetorical - I'm
not looking for a response here).  I am hoping that the original author
will consider the negative reactions received here on this list as a signal
of community opposition to the idea rather than an invitation to continue
arguing the point.
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