[Talk-us] Role of the Wiki

[Serge Wroclawski]

On Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 8:44 PM, Jeff Meyer <jeff at gwhat.org> wrote:
> Hi - N00b question here:
>
> What's the role of the wiki as a source of information in the OSM community?

It's a mixed bag, some of the information is very good and of high
quality and some is outdated, and some is of low quality.

The problem is that the wiki is not a single entity, but rather a
collection of the work of lots of people.

And as others have said, those busy mapping often don't have
time/interest to document, and those people who love documentation and
process aren't always in the thick of the actual mapping- so they're
giving proscriptive orders on high, with little thought to reality.

> In my brief period here, I've been told things like this:
>
> - For tags: RTFW

Most tags are well documented. Remember, OSM is a folksonomy. Tags are
accepted by their use. If a tag is in heavy use, it will show up in
taginfo. Some tags are very accepted (highway=residential), and others
are controversial and others are just one person's opinion.

In the end, "accepted" is a complex term in the OSM context. The
tagging list has a process that they follow, but that doesn't mean a
lot. I've had tags that I've used and propsed be argued against with
vehemence on that list, only to see them later be used by others,
appear as defaults in editors, etc. and still AFAIK not be on the
wiki, where I've also seen tags by the taggling list be on the wiki
but no one actually use.

> - For relations: do NOT read the wiki & HELL YES read the wiki

Relations are a complex topic. They're generally loved by those who
like to talk in theory but not in practice.

The problem is they're very hard to work with.

> - Imports: the wiki's out of date

> (Also - I've received information off IRC that conflicts with both email &
> wiki)

As it's been said, everyone will give you their own opinions. No
single member of our community is an authoritative source (not even
SteveC).

> In general, is there a method to when the wiki is or is not relevant?

You eventually get a feel for it, but it's hard to know as a newbie, for sure.

You can also find info at help.openstreetmap.org.

- Serge