[OSM-talk] OSM the mediocre alternative (was: don't like you etc.)

[Martijn van Oosterhout]

On 4/21/07, Jeroen Dekkers <jeroen at vrijschrift.org> wrote:
> I don't believe in locking things down. What we need are, as you
> already write, good tools to monitor changes. Once an area is complete
> there shouldn't be a lot of changes in the street anymore.

I don't think locking down is necessary, I think it the effect will
happen naturally. Right now we can appeal to the crowd who have a GPS
and are willing to learn JOSM. This is still a very small fraction of
the population.

Eventually (as the data gets more complete) newer interfaces will
arise that are aimed at a wider audience. One where people click on a
map and say "this street is spelled wrong" or "here's a new phone
booth". The number of people know will need to know JOSM will
decrease, roads just don't move that often. We'll get to the stage
where I login and get a message "you have 5 new notes" (for only my
area). They'll be from someone saying such and such a bridge will be
closed from dateA to dateB. I can the choose to load that into OSM, or
not.

So it's not locking down, it's just that most user interfaces will not
provide the ability to manipulate nodes/segments/ways. And that's not
a bad thing...

Have a nice day,
---
Martijn van Oosterhout <kleptog at gmail.com> http://svana.org/kleptog/