[Talk-us] Facts about the world

[Simon Poole]

Am 04.04.2015 um 14:57 schrieb Kate Chapman:
...

Small reality check (not saying that this is anybodies fault, just how
it is):

- the US community shapes how the project is perceived by the media globally
- US based companies control the majority of funds spent on OSM
development and have a major influence in OSM related formal bodies
- the US community has a large (far far larger than the relative and
absolute size of the community would indicate) presence in essentially
every policy discussion in an OSM context.

I don't think pretending that the US is an unimportant, negligible
player, best left on its own, is going to work particularly well and
just as a lot of other people follow closely what is going on in the US
and feel entitled to voice my opinion when necessary.  Its the price you
have to pay for global dominance.

And the other part of the puzzle is, while we don't and likely can't
have unified quality standards for OSM, there is a certain expectation
of usefulness, at least for 1st world countries. That might not be a
concern for everybody in the US community, it is a concern for people
outside of the US wanting to use OSM based data for the US (revisit
Richard Fairhurst numerous posts on the topic) and I don't think you can
negate that such an interest is quite valid.

Simon


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