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

[Pieter Vander Vennet]

About the is_in: oh please, get rid of them.

About the geoDB: clean them up as well, although I am a bit more 
reserved. I don't know openGeoDB, but I feel that it is unmaintainted 
and superseded by the combination of OSM and Wikidata. I feel that using 
a wikidata entry is a more futureproof solution to this: the metadata 
about the place (such as population) can go on wikidata then.

In conclusion: go for it!

Mvg, Pieter

On 05.02.20 20:54, joost schouppe wrote:
> I say "go"
>
> Op wo 5 feb. 2020 16:37 schreef Midgard <midgard+talkbe at janmaes.com 
> <mailto:midgard%2Btalkbe at janmaes.com>>:
>
>     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
>
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