[Talk-in] Local Chapter for India

[Kenneth Gonsalves]

On Sunday 04 Oct 2009 8:04:34 am Pradeep B V wrote:
> > On Saturday 03 Oct 2009 1:30:49 pm Kiran Jonnalagadda wrote:
> > > I'm sorry if this comes across as a little brazen, but most map users
> >
> > will
> >
> > > see no reason to use OSM over Google Maps. Pitching to them will be as
> > > effective as converting Windows users to Linux. The effort has to be
> > > with users who need raw data and can't work with pre-rendered tiles.
> >
> > OSM is not about map users, it is about map makers, so the analogy is not
> > exactly correct.
>
> I believe that OSM is as much about map users as it is about map makers. If
> there are are no users then what is the use of making the maps.
>
> Perhaps what Kiran meant to say may be to do with the absence of an OSM map
> usage ecosystem which can bring in its own momentum and exposure to OSM and
> the process of map making.

actually I did not want to go at length into this as it would have diverted 
attention from the main issue. But if we concede that google has won as far as 
end users are concerned, then we might as well pack up our bags and vacate 
this space. Case to point - when I visited Mumbai recently, google map of my 
hotel was off by half a kilometer, and the places I wanted to visit were not on 
the google map at all. They weren't on the OSM map either - but the hotel and 
those places now are. But google remains the same. I have noticed that the 
users that I have got on to OSM tend to stick there as they have the power to 
contribute and add their own needs. And if we can get to work with Bhuvan 
imagery, google will be nowhere.
-- 
regards
Kenneth Gonsalves
Senior Project Officer
NRC-FOSS
http://nrcfosshelpline.in/web/