[OSM-talk-be] RFC: removing OpenGeoDB and is_in tags (RFC by 29 Feb 2020)

[Midgard]

Dear mappers

If you ever touched a place node, chances are you saw it was cluttered with:
- tags with a "openGeoDB:" prefix and
- "is_in" tags.

I hereby propose a mechanical edit to delete those from all features in Belgium.
The Overpass query to fetch the data is https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/Qqa

- The openGeoDB tags date to 2008, when the plan was to keep populations updated from the openGeoDB
  database. This never happened and probably never will.
  Information about OpenGeoDB on the wiki: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenGeoDB
  For an example, see https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/79382706/history

- The is_in tags are largely obsolete. The administrative boundaries replace them.
  They're also not uniform in OSM to begin with. Some examples:
  - Beernem:         is_in=Belgie, Vlaanderen, West-Vlaanderen
  - Sint-Andries:    is_in=Brugge,West-Vlaanderen,Belgium,Europe
  - Hoekskensstraat: is_in=Lebbeke, Oost-Vlaanderen
  - Meise: is_in=Vlaams-Brabant,Belgium,Europe
           is_in:continent=Europe
           is_in:country=Belgium
           is_in:province=Flemish Brabant

Why remove them? For data users they create the impression that this is data they can use.
Mappers may be confused about them and waste time maintaining them. They are not useful to anyone.

I'd like to collectively make a decision ("go" or "no go") by the end of the month, 29 February.
Please send in your comments, even if it's just "not sure, maybe we shouldn't do this"!

Kind regards,
Midgard