[Openstreetmap] Editor question

[Tom Carden]

> Hi,
>
> > does one of the editors (josm/osmeditor2/osmpedit) support converting
> > gps tracks directly to osm nodes/lines?
>

OK, some thoughts on this:

It sounds like a good idea, to get a head start in areas where there
is not any existing node/line data already.  And yes, it's easy enough
to filter out "impossible" data (above a certain speed, etc).  But...

If you require people to trace the nodes, then you also guarantee that
at least one real person has seen each segment at least once, and made
some attempt to say 'yeah, that looks about right'. That's really
important.

This is basically in reply to Nick... I really don't think you're
editing OpenStreetMap if you're editing offline, and you're also going
to need to look hard at the merging problem as the userbase increases,
and the diversity of the editors increases (it shouldn't be possible
to squish other people's tags, right?). Would wikipedia host your
personal essay on a perticular topic - the one you wrote off-line? 
Perhaps.  But would they let you bulk-upload 25 articles without
checking what was there first? No.

We should definitely be meeting this half way, by drawing lines
between GPS tracks, and providing tools to convert those lines into
streets if they *look* right.  But GPS is raw data in OSM, and I think
it should stay that way.

Tom.