[OSM-talk] Prolification of the amenity tag

[Paul Youlten]

Open, free Yellow Pages does exist: www.yellowikis.org (I am a co-founder)

I don't see why a node tagged: "amenity/butcher" shouldn't be a valuable
part of OSM's data set - Yellow Pages (or Yellowikis) has all the other
information about the business: business name, address, telephone number,
opening hours as well as a geo-code.

It all comes down to how you display of the information - I don't think
anyone would want OSM map covered with hundreds of tiny logos. So butchers
and bubble gum machines should be there - but only rendered if requested by
the user.

I'd also suggest that allowing a wide range of amenities to be added
broadens the appeal of OSMing an area.

PY

On 11/29/06, bvh <bvh-osm at irule.be> wrote:
>
> On Wed, Nov 29, 2006 at 09:53:29AM -0000, Andy Robinson wrote:
> > While I agree on gpx uploads of flightpaths being withheld from OSM I do
> > that only because it confuses. However with respect to other geo data
> that
> > represents physical features (and the wifi access point hardware is a
> > physical feature) then why do we care what type of geo data the database
> > holds. I'm concerned that we are not thinking outside the box if we set
> > restrictions based on traditional mapping. If my kids want to produce a
> map
> > of all the bubble gum machines in the area why would I not want to let
> them
> > (tooth decay permitting!), they would be producing an innovative map and
> one
> > which has value to a certain group of society. It was the potential for
> this
> > innovation in mapping that drew me to OSM in the first place.
>
> My main concern against allowing an unlimited amount of geo information is
> * more features means more outdated information (especially
> with quickly changing stuff like wifi zones, shops, etc), harming
> the credibility of other information also in the database
> (Note missing information is better than wrong information)
> * more features means a bigger hurdle in participation for everyone
> involved
> * more features make it more difficult to edit the map. Theoretically
> the editing tools should take care of that. But currently they are not
> yet good enough, so the concern is real
> * by accepting this data we may cut short the birth of a better
> adapted "openyellowpages" scheme. For example it is
> impractical to search for "butchers in Gent" using the data
> model of a map. It would be trivial in a listings data model.
> * bad priorities. While this is a voluntuur project and we can't
> decide for others how they should spend their time, we can try
> to steer them. Eg. I think it is more usefull for people to add
> a new street than to add the location of their local butcher.
> * more distinct features make it more difficult to refactor the
> database if we ever need to (I believe this to be very likely)
>
> > The counter argument is that the location of bubble gum machines should
> be
> > held in someone else's database. Fine if it exists and is free and open.
> But
> > in reality few sites are collecting data right now in the way OSM does
> and I
> > think we should encourage others to go forward with this rather than
> block
> > them from the head start they can gain by using existing OSM data. Look
> at
>
> I would totally encourage a new openyellowpages project to take as
> much advantage of the _data_ provided by openstreetmap. It would only
> make sense to do so and I mentioned that in my original mail also.
>
> > Freethepostcode, ok its not within the OSM database as such but its
> founded
>
> EXACTLY my point. Freethepostcode is a success _because_ it has its
> own adapted database that meshes nicely with Openstreetmap. The same
> should happen for a listing of butchers, wifihotspots or whatever.
>
> > Thus personally I believe that there should be few restrictions on the
> type
> > of geo data but that the way information is tagged and associated needs
> some
> > additional work. Bubble gum machines are arguably not an amenity
> although I
> > think wifi access points certainly are in our modern world. Improvements
> in
> > the extensibility of the Map Features tagging schema is something I'm
> > working on and hopefully will make some of these issues less
> contentious.
>
> Could you elaborate a bit more on this?
>
> cu bart
>
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>



-- 
Yellow Pages for the 21st Century
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