[Openstreetmap] Unified data-gathering and editing application

[Nick Whitelegg]

Been talking to Steve about the possibility of a common data repository for 
OpenStreetMap and my Freemap project, /9and any other free mapping projects 
for that matter...) Different websites and desktop apps could then use 
whatever data (i.e. street, countryside or whatever else) they need, through 
the use of SOAP or similar technology.

One key component of gathering and processing the data would, I feel, be a 
unified desktop application which can do several things, namely:

- read data from a GPS;
- allow the user to edit the data (waypoints, routes, tracks);
- allow overlays of Landsat data, NASA SRTM height data, and any other 
freely-available data for estimation of not   easily-surveyable features e.g. 
woods, lakes, hill summits on private land;

This would in many ways be an extension of the existing applet, and it's also 
something I've already started with my FreemapEdit application. If people 
think this sort of unified data-gathering and editing application would be 
useful, it's something I can get going on. Only one thing - I would prefer it 
to be a desktop C++ app rather than an applet, for speed and user interface 
quality (when Scalable Vector Graphics becomes widely supported on browsers, 
that would be my ideal solution but that's not happened yet...) 

Nick