[OSM-talk] open data

[Richard Fairhurst]

Quoting Tom Chance <tom at acrewoods.net>:

> IMO we should aim for a future where this can be done in partnership with
> national green groups, councils, recycling companies, etc. rather than
> relying on proprietary data from someone like Valpak.
>
> Free software inevitably makes certain jobs redundant, and others more
> valuable.

Openstreetmap is not a free software project, it's an open data project.

"Furthering the aims of 'free-ness'" is not an OSM objective, nor do I  
believe it should be. IYO the future of information is as described  
above. IMO it's something different. We disagree. That's fine. OSM  
shouldn't take a stand one way or another.

<runs for cover>

> I *definitely* don't want to see a license fork, that would cut OSM off from
> everyone using BY-SA for their other work. License proliferation
> for "content" is a very stupid idea indeed.

I think you'll find that public domain, community-produced geodata is  
going to happen whether or not it's OSM - I've been maintaining a  
road-atlas, GPS-derived map of Britain from GPS traces since long  
before OSM started.

cheers
Richard