[OSM-talk] 02:31- UTC+2 <crschmidt> SteveC: I don't like you. I don't like working with you, I don't like your project, I don't have anything I'm interested in collaborating on.

[Christopher Schmidt]

On Sun, Apr 15, 2007 at 10:38:35PM +0200, Lars Aronsson wrote:
> Without speaking for anybody else, I can readily admit that Chris 
> is a smarter guy than me, and more experienced with GIS software.  
> Still, this superior expert knowledge serves him just as little as 
> the people (some of my friends) who bet on OpenBSD against Linux. 
> OpenBSD is the smarter alternative, but that just doesn't matter 
> since it has failed to attract a sufficient user base.  In 
> comparison with many GIS projects, OpenStreetMap is the mediocre 
> alternative, just like Linux (vs OpenBSD) or Wikipedia (vs 
> Citizendium), but it is the alternative that will prevail.  (Or at 
> least, that's my bet.)

And I completely agree. I think I even said that, though I'm not sure if
I said it in the snippet that Steve copy pasted. The question was: "Why
do you work on OSM if you don't like the technical limitations of the
project?"

The answer was "Because OSM won."

OSM has won. It has done so decisively. There is no question in my mind
that there is no alternative project with the same level of uptake, nor
will there be. Regardless of my personal opinions  -- or even technical
opinions -- OSM is the best in the biz, and I look forward to the
project succeeding, because regardless of the technical limitations it
may have at the moment, it has the community that no one else will be
able to get, and *that* is the most important part of the project. 

Steve's abilities to grow that community are something I don't
understand, but envy. I hope that he can continue to lead the way in
building the community that is OSM, because there's nothing that I think
has been more successful than OSM's ability to build community.

Regards,
-- 
Christopher Schmidt
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