[Talk-ca] 2020 building import wiki comment by Nate Wessel

[Nate Wessel]

Hi John,

As Steve has said, you seem to be the only one suggesting that thousands 
of import committees might need to be formed. Certainly I'm not 
suggesting that.

My understanding of OSM import procedure (and wiki-style projects more 
generally) is that imports should operate in an essentially consensual 
way where possible. The goal is to build consent and bring people on 
board with a project or a change by addressing their concerns in a 
meaningful and respectful way.

I think that I have made some substantive and troubling claims about the 
quality of the data being imported. I've pointed out that this project 
has not followed the import procedures that were produced by a community 
of mappers larger than just those in Canada.

So to respond to your implication, I am in some sense the one reviewing 
the project, just as I would welcome you to find ways that my own 
contributions could be better. If you want my credentials for reviewing 
your work, here they are:

1) I am an active contributor to OSM in Toronto, where I live (and 
elsewhere)

2) I am currently helping to lead a building import in Hamilton County 
Ohio that has better addressed some of the issues I see this import 
struggling with. I can help you do the same.

3) I've been doing research in GIS for a long time now, though I don't 
need that to tell you that the issues I've described are hardly 
insurmountable technically or even all that difficult to fix. It would 
take maybe one day's hard work to get the technical side of this right.

I think Canadian OSMers will agree that we can take a pause to get 
things right on such a massive import. If they don't - if I'm shouted 
down or better, if my critiques are adequately addressed, then I will 
leave you to finish the project in peace. I might even lend a hand if 
all goes well, as I sincerely hope it does :-)

Best,

Nate Wessel
Jack of all trades, Master of Geography, PhD candidate in Urban Planning
NateWessel.com <http://natewessel.com>

On 1/18/19 1:11 PM, john whelan wrote:
> I know of no other way to contact him but he made an interesting 
> comment that the project is on hold in the wiki pending review.
>
> Would he care to comment on who is supposed to be reviewing the project?
>
> My understanding is that the import was raised in talk-ca before it 
> commenced for comment and these were generally favourable. I took that 
> as the local mappers to Canada had been consulted and they are the 
> "local mappers" authority in this case.
>
> I understand he has concerns about local mappers making decisions but 
> in Canada we have been importing similar data through CANVEC for some 
> time.  CANVEC data comes from a number of sources including municipal 
> data.
>
> Is he suggesting that each of the 3,700 municipalities in Canada 
> should form a group of local mappers who can make individual decisions 
> on whether their municipal data should be imported and we should end 
> up with 3,700 import plans?
>
> Thanks John
>
>
>
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