[OSM-talk] On the ground rule on the wiki

[Andy Allan]

On Sat, May 29, 2010 at 11:46 PM, Nathan Edgars II <neroute2 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Right now, the only mention of the "on the ground" rule on the wiki is
> here: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Disputes#On_the_Ground_Rule
> Should a separate page be created about how it applies more generally?

The "on the ground rule" is only appropriate for disputes, and
shouldn't be used as an instruction of what should or should not be
mapped (for that, see the guidelines on "verifiability").

The "on the ground rule" is that when two sources (or mappers)
disagree, then priority should be given to what actually goes on in
real life. As Mikel has said, this was originally created to resolve a
dispute in an occupied territory, but can be applied more widely. So
if we have a mapper who is adamant a street has been called foo
street, and another who says it is now bar street, then priority would
be given to whichever name is used by the people who live there / run
the local council / etc. Obviously this still needs common sense,
since a mis-spelled street-sign is still mis-spelled and shouldn't be
entered incorrectly into OSM.

The "on the ground rule" can be thought of as resolving de jure vs de
facto disputes. If you are discussing whether or not something exists,
then you are wanting to discuss verifiability.

Cheers,
Andy