[OSM-talk] open data

[Nick Burch]

On Thu, 21 Sep 2006, Tom Chance wrote:
> 1) Collaborate with OSM and others to get good coverage of recycling
> facilities. I'm already doing this in Reading. In fact, OSM has the only map
> of recycling points on the Whiteknights university campus that I know of :)
> 2) Produce customised OSM maps highlighting the recycling points.
> 3) Help people recycle, and allow people to contribute to the resource, use
> the data in their own interesting ways, etc.
>
> Why do you think the basic map data should be free of nasty licensing
> restrictions, but not the recycling point data?

recyclenow was just an example though. We're not going to be able to free 
all the geodata in the world overnight.


Currently, you can overlay your own data on top of google maps, and you 
don't have to give away your data. Be that recycling locations, your 
company sales figures, how long it takes to travel somewhere (eg the 
MySociety traveltime maps), some postcodes etc. You can take your data, 
lay it on top of google maps (or yahoo maps etc), and that's fine.

You can't (currently) take your own data, lay it on top of OSM maps, and 
not give it away. That means that for a great number of potential uses, 
you just can't use OSM.


Using your Linux example, there's nothing saying that programs you run on 
Linux have to be GPLd. If you want to hack on the linux kernel, your 
changes have to be GPLd. If you run your own program, it doesn't. Surely 
in our case, changing the mapping data should require you release under 
our license, but drawing something on top shouldn't?


I want my maps to be free, but also actually have some use. I'm worried 
that by having a licence that prevents most of our potential users from 
using our maps (in the same way as they currently use other maps), we're 
going to be free but largely useless.

Nick