[OSM-talk] [RFC] Deprecating the use of Tag:highway=stop in favour of Key:stop

[Roy Wallace]

On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 2:06 PM, John Smith<delta_foxtrot at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Besides why should you care about needing this explicit information, if it's rendered you will see a sign, you will also see the nearest junction and your mind can put 2 and 2 together. A computer can do the exact same thing.

You're asking why should we tag things explicitly? Because we're
building a database. A huge, complex database that's used by lots of
different people and software all over the world. And as I've said
before, fudging a solution always seems like a great idea at the time
(e.g. "oh, this'll do the job, it's easier, and it's good enough - why
bother doing it properly/explicitly") - until it breaks due to
unforeseen circumstances.

> This is why I keep saying this is tagging for software, you are explicitly tagging for software to "know" which junction the stop sign applies to, where as just like you it can "see" a junction and it can "see" a stop sign and it will "know" that the stop sign applies to that junction.
>
> So if we can't tag for rendering we aren't allowed to tag for routing software either.

Please listen to me. A requirement to stop *intrinsically involves a
way AND an intersection*. A requirement to stop **IS** an interaction
between a way AND an intersection. This is why I would suggest using a
relation. Not because a relation is easier for software, but because a
relation describes the **nature** of the thing to be described.

But hey, I'll go along with the majority in whatever's decided.