[Talk-us] parcel data in OSM

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

On 29.12.2012 03:22, Russ Nelson wrote:
> Here in the US where you aren't allowed to trespass on private
> property except on certain conditions, these "line[s] in some
> government database" MATTER to mappers and to map users.

But surely there must be something on the ground that tells you where 
you can go and where you can't? Else how would people have evaded being 
shot in pre-satnav times?

> It may be different where you live. That doesn't mean you should
> advocate for us to map badly.

Mapping, in OSM, has a large component of surveying. "Mapping badly" is 
mapping without survey.

It is possible that you *need* those "lines in a government database" 
for whatever outdoor activity you are planning, and it might indeed be a 
good idea for a map producer to include them in his map.

But that doesn't mean it makes sense to include it in the OSM database.

Too many people think that anything they want to see on a map, must go 
into OSM. That is wrong. Anything that should be the subject of crowd 
editing must go into OSM; anything else should not.

Un-surveyable data is a nuisance for everyone working with OSM data; it 
disempowers the mapper who works with the data because they have to 
simply accept it as a fact if they cannot see it on the ground.

Adding such data to OSM sends the message to mappers: "If there's a 
mismatch between OSM data and what you see on the ground, better don't 
mess with the OSM data because surely someone has put that there for a 
reason."

This is what leads to bad mapping.

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"