[OSM-talk] Thoughts about Map Features and Maplint

[Frederik Ramm]

David,

> I think I need to write something down that is more concrete than the 
> mail threads, so you can all see how it would work.

The idea of a machine-readable "master database" of tags from which 
everything else would then be generated has been floated on these lists 
a hundred times. It appeals to computer people of course as they abhor 
anything where the authoritative documentation is in natural language.

Even though you are planning to have some sort of human-usable interface 
into your "master database", I believe that there is a real danger of 
eroding the idea of free tagging, because even more than now (where some 
people already think you must first propose a new tag before being 
allowed to use it) people will assume that it is somehow inconsistent to 
use a tag without first filling in the 837 input fields of your new 
interface. ("Help text for this feature in traditional Chinese" ;-)

Also, we have a very strong "subsidiary" principle here at OSM, where 
the tool authors are the masters of the tags they support. Your approach 
will - whether you're planning for that or not - lead to calls for the 
master database to not only be a tagging master but also a rendering, 
verification, and processing master. People will assume that they can 
simply dump a Mapnik style description or an Osmarender snippet or a 
JOSM preset configuration snippet into the master database and this will 
magically be used by the tools, thus circumventing any editorial 
influence by the maintainers of those. Even more than now, people will 
be lead to think that once they've got their tag "approved", it will 
automatically show up everywhere.

Which is, while technically possible, unlikely to happen if you ask me.

On another note, I would be very wary of mixing this with the actual API 
code. The API should remain a free-text world with no knowledge 
whatsoever about the tags. The API ist just a database with a very small 
number of practical extra features it doesn't, and should not, care for 
the values you put in. Call yours a "documentation framework" that lives 
in a world of its own, don't mix it with the API.

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"