[OSM-talk] The Return of the Highway tags and other junk

[Ben Robbins]

>The reason for staying with nodes is, as Dirk (I think it was) pointed
>out: these features are, *topologically speaking*, without extent. This
>isn't OpenTopographicalMap or OpenLanduseMap, it's a streetmap - and
>streets are about topology.

The name openstreetmap is irelevent now, as it is a lot bigger project than 
that.  Hence highway=footway.  or abutters, or amenties.

No. A to scale drawing is just that - a to scale drawing. It's like
this: http://tinyurl.com/tvltm [gif]. In order to create such a thing
you need surveying equipment, such as a DGPS and a total station.

I would call that a map.  But this is irrelevent really.  A gps is a peice 
of surveying equipmenet, however acurate or unacurate it is.

>A map, and especially a street map, is an abstract way of representing a
>topological network with certain tradeoffs in accuracy being made in
>order to increase usability and legibility. Some of these include
>drawing roads wider than they are in scale, representing physically
>linear but small features as points, etc.

Although true that we may widen roads, that arguement doesnt hold up to 
well.  If we make wides bigger, then why are you proposing making gates 
infintly smaller?.  I agree a map will make the viewing of it easy and clear 
as well as acurate, but if theres 2 options and each is as clear, then 
acuracy would be the choice to go for.

Feel free to do so. Don't be surprised when the rest of us ignore your
idiosyncratic way of doing things.

Its hardly illogical or excentric to tag something how it is!.   Please 
don't judge without points to back it.

>A consequence of what I said above is that a pictorially accurate map
>would be atrocious for actually using it for manual navigation.

Thats true if it was covered with grass textures, and every mole hill 
laybled, but I am not saying that!.  Im saying to tag features that are 
already being rendered, such as tracks, but as tracktypes.  While hedges 
would render as a line, a gate would be as easy to see.   This point seems 
to inply that the simple formular of the more on the map there is the harder 
it is to read is true.  And its not.  A map is read relative to what you 
see.  Too few things make it harder to position yourself, while too many 
make it hard to read the map itself.

Please answer this.   If you don't wish to tag gates, or tracks, or a hedge 
row, why does that mean others should not be able to?

Ben

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