[OSM-talk] Suggestion for JOSM

[Richard Fairhurst]

Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 8:12 AM, Richard Fairhurst<richard at systemed.net>  wrote:
>> I would commend this forced simplification to the JOSM devs. Ways are
>> automatically split after an interval of n seconds.
>
> Unlike Potlatch JOSM is a powertool. It shouldn't force you to do anything.

...is a very high-minded principle which nonetheless leads to some lousy 
edits in the database.

I would have a bit more sympathy had I not, once again, spent a good 
while last night clearing up some ways, badly traced in JOSM with 
45-degree angles all over the place. Had the mapper used a good 
"GPX->simplified way" function, he would have created a road which was 
much closer to reality yet nonetheless took him much less effort.

It's the responsibility of the tool developer to lead the user to the 
right choice. Glib phrases like "unlike Potlatch JOSM is a powertool" (I 
note JOSM #67 is still open :p ) don't absolve responsibility for UI 
design. By all means offer the choice, but make the 90% case the default.

 > We would do well to remember that not everyone wants to spend an hour
 > to perfectly trace some way in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes
 > importing an almost raw GPX track is quick, good enough and perfectly
 > appropriate.

Yep. Exactly my point. The challenge for the developer is to balance 
"not everyone wants to spend an hour" and "_almost_ raw" (my emphasis), 
and in this area I think Potlatch gets it about right. <mandy 
rice-davies>Though I would say that, wouldn't I?</mandy rice-davies>

cheers
Richard