[OSM-talk] Actually using OpenStreetMap and the usability ofthecurrent maps

[Andy Robinson (blackadder-lists)]

Inge Wallin wrote:
>Sent: 29 July 2008 9:30 AM
>To: talk at openstreetmap.org
>Subject: Re: [OSM-talk] Actually using OpenStreetMap and the usability
>ofthecurrent maps

snip

>Well, when I was talking about "users", I actually meant those that only
>use
>the finished map. The 50,000 users that actually have accounts, I would
>instead call "contributors", even if it turns out that most of them are
>actually just empty accounts. That's probably to be expected, since it's
>the
>same in many of the large open source projects that I have been part of.
>

As the project has grown some of the stuff has gotten a little buried.
However the primary statement on the front of the wiki hasn't changed in
eons and it states:

"OpenStreetMap creates and provides free geographic data such as street maps
to anyone who wants them. The project was started because most maps you
think of as free actually have legal or technical restrictions on their use,
holding back people from using them in creative, productive, or unexpected
ways."

Additionally the Foundation which of course acts as a facilitator to the
project and custodian of the servers and the database for its contributors
has its own aims which are nicely summed up in the Articles of Association
of the company which states:

"3.1 OpenStreetMap Foundation is dedicated to encouraging the growth,
development and distribution of free geospatial data and to providing
geospatial data for anybody to use and share."

These are really the guiding light statements at the present time. 

>For
>> now I'll give 100% support to the 20%, the 80% should wait some more or
>> better still try to do some mapping, somewhere, anywhere!
>
>Heh, here is where you are wrong.  I am very much into programming. For one
>thing, I am one of the maintainers of Marble (http://edu.kde.org/marble)
>that
>was featured at the SOTM conference. For another, I am seriously thinking
>of
>setting up a Swedish tile server with the look that I am used to from
>Swedish
>map books and some other infrastructure, like a forum and similar stuff.
>

Go for it, that's exactly the sort of thing that we want to see and
encourage. The majority of cool things that we associate as OSM have arisen
out of such efforts.


Cheers

Andy