[OSM-talk] New site about the license change

[David Murn]

On Tue, 2010-11-16 at 14:18 +0100, M∡rtin Koppenhoefer wrote:
> 2010/11/16 David Murn <davey at incanberra.com.au>:
> 
> > Maybe I missed something, but when were the decisions made?
> 
> 
> back in 2008

Maybe thats the problem then.  Ive been a mapper since 2007 but only
actively involved in ths communication process since possibly after the
decision was made.  I wonder how many people are like me, more
interested in the mapping and only became aware of this whole licence
problem, because everyone seems to disagree and the process has taken so
long, without taking much time to work on the dissenters.


> > I dont think there is interest in doing that, from the powers-that-be.
> > Many 'users of our data' have been expressing concerns for many months,
> 
> 
> I think it is obvious that the license cannot be decided by the "users
> of our data", but has to be decided by the contributors.

Maybe Ive been reading different mailing lists to you, but the opinion
of 'the contributors' expressed on here, seems to be split between yes
and no, with some saying 'if it aint broke, dont fix it' and another
group who seem set on following through with the changes, apparently
with disregard for the users and/or data that will be lost to the
project, not just because they disagree with the licence, but because
they disagree with the technique and time taken to implement it.

> > While its great that some small parts of the world have a density of
> > mappers adequate enough to map local regions extensively, in large parts
> > of the world, this is simply not really practical.
> 
> 
> I doubt this. It may take longer, but without an active community
> imported data in these areas would anyway be useless.  I think you are
> missing the point when you see OSM as a dumping place for imported
> data. This was never the project idea and neither it should be in the
> future.

Ive just returned from an 8000km trip across the country.  Almost the
entire trip, I was navigating by OSM data.  Thankfully, there was a bit
of imported data out there, as for a stretch of about 1800km of highway,
there is basically *nothing* but dirt, trees and roads for almost 3 days
of driving.

There are a few remote fuel stops and roadhouses, and a myriad of trails
along the way (Id easily guess over 1 million km of tracks).  In these
remote areas, youre lucky to have a mapper travel throguh the area once,
better known having several people travelling through to upgrade and
improve the data, the way it can be done in the city.

That is my interest, as a user and a contributor.  You look at areas
like capital cities, and see a few items being removed, but still a lot
of nodes within a square mile.  I look at areas, where half the area of
the country will be removed.

David