[Tagging] shop=gun shop=guns shop=weapons shop=firearms

[Minh Nguyen]

Vào lúc 10:23 2023-06-22, Mateusz Konieczny via Tagging đã viết:
> Jun 21, 2023, 15:51 by gdt at lexort.com:
> 
>     It is absolutely the wrong thing to say that shop=firearms means "a shop
>     that sells whatever the local law means by firearms". This is a
>     general principle in OSM that we define something and then expect
>     mappers to use the OSM definition, not local language.
> 
> Though if some specific term is primarily legal term and has crazy
> definitions varying across world - then using a different term is a 
> better idea,
> if such term is available and is less confusing.

I think that's a good approach in this case. Laws and regulations often 
prefer technical-sounding terms like "weapon" and "firearm" over more 
colloquial terms like "gun" in order to precisely redefine them within 
the scope of a particular law. So when data consumers see "weapon" or 
"firearm", they may be inclined to think we're specifically referring to 
that law, but we send craft-mappers out into the field, not government 
inspectors.

The problem with relying on laws to define the plain meaning of a term 
is that most laws aren't intended to regulate language. A typical law in 
the U.S. comes with a definition section that _redefines_ common words 
so that it can reuse them as shorthand later in the text, but this 
doesn't necessarily bind ordinary people's use of the terminology. If 
the law intends to promote consistent external usage of the term, then 
it'll probably call for signage or perhaps a public awareness campaign.

There was a rather spectacular episode last year when a mapper failed to 
comprehend this nuance and insisted on redefining service=driveway in 
Asia based on a definition in an obscure California law about where city 
governments must build curbs and sidewalks. [1]

[1] 
https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk/2022-September/087734.html

-- 
minh at nguyen.cincinnati.oh.us