[OSM-talk] immutable=yes Fwd: DEC Lands

[Matt Toups]

Russ Nelson wrote:
> Earlier, I proposed that certain datasets should be immutable; whether  
> by policy or mechanism as needed.  I propose importing the NYS DEC  
> Lands as an immutable set of data.  If you read this exchange with  
> Robert Morrell, you can see why they feel that NO changes AT ALL are  
> appropriate.  I agree with them.  This dataset constitutes a legal  
> description of the property managed by the NYS Department of  
> Environmental Conservation, and changes by any OSM editor are not  
> consistent with the nature of the data.
> 
> How do people feel about me importing this data (with all of their  
> metadata), adding an immutable=yes tag, with the intent of tracking  
> their dataset, and deleting --outright-- any changes made by OSM  
> editors.

Why?  Because someone outside of OSM thinks changes to the data would be
bad?  If we can't change the data, what's the point of having it in OSM?

Maybe this could be cleared up by an explanation that any edits to the
data after an import to OSM would be an edit to OSM, not an edit to
*their* data -- so their data would remain "pristine."  It seems like,
reading the forwarded message below, that these folks seem worried that
something horrible is going to happen to their data if we allow people
to edit it.  I think that is incorrect.

>> From: Robert Morrell <ramorrel at gw.dec.state.ny.us>
>> Date: March 9, 2009 2:06:13 PM EDT
>> To: Russ Nelson <russ at cloudmade.com>
>> Cc: Kurt Swartz <kcswartz at gw.dec.state.ny.us>, Larry Alber <lalber at gw.dec.state.ny.us 
>> Subject: Re: DEC Lands
>>
>> Russ,
>>          There is no "creativity" in mapping or displaying of Public  
>> owned land. This isn't art, it's legal land rights that impact  
>> private land owners.

Sure, which is why this agency should continue to maintain a set of data
that people outside of their department cannot edit.  I don't think
we're proposing that OSM become the primary source for information about
land rights; we just want to make a free map (including data from a
variety of free sources) which anyone can edit.

>> On what bases would someone with no formal training, no legal deed  
>> description, or survey map have to determine if a State boundary is  
>> correct or incorrect. Simply holding a GPS receiver does not give  
>> someone authority.

This sounds like many arguments against wikipedia -- of *course* only
highly trained professionals should be allowed to edit an encyclopedia!

I think that the main thing to tell these people is that just because
we're using a different model, where anyone *can* edit the map data,
doesn't mean that they cannot continue to maintain their dataset the way
they see fit.

We can't change what OSM is all about just because somebody else (who
happens to have some geodata we might want to import) doesn't like it!

-- 
Matthew Toups, OpenStreetMap.org Regional Community Ambassador
matthew at cloudmade.com || 504-684-4OSM (4676) || Skype: MatthewToupsCloudMade