[OSM-talk] clean gpx tracks

[Andy Allan]

On Thu, Sep 25, 2008 at 5:01 PM, Karl Newman <siliconfiend at gmail.com> wrote:

> The GPX tracks are intended to show the basis for the ways and other data
> that is in the database, so I think one motivation for timestamps hearkens
> back to a desire to "show your work" to defend the source of OSM data
> against potential future claims of copyright infringement. In other words,
> with timestamps, it's more plausible that it was collected with an actual
> GPS receiver, instead of mocked up into GPX from some "tainted" source (with
> a license not compatible with OSM). Obviously timestamps could be
> synthesized (and I think there are even scripts that will do it for you if
> you want to upload your timestamp-less GPX tracks to OSM), but anyway,
> that's one reason I seem to recall why timestamps are required.

Yes, that's the reason. Whoever wrote that stuff on the wiki page was
making it up (shock horror).

It's a simple hurdle to discourage using one of the many
trace-over-X-maps websites and then uploading the end result into OSM.
The stuff about using timestamps to work out speeds is inaccurate.

Lambert, it's really worth your while not to believe everything that
you read on the wiki, the quality of stuff there is often particularly
poor. Nor even believe everything on the mailing lists, this warning
(perhaps?) included!

Cheers,
Andy