[OSM-talk] [OSM-legal-talk] In what direction should OSM go?

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

Peter Körner wrote:
> Imported data is dead data - there's no one that feels responsible for 
> it. Imports can kill community and give "newcomers" the feeling that 
> there's nothing more to be done. Imports *can* help osm but they can 
> also *hurt* osm, because osm is about people, not data.

+1

Instead of importing data, data should be mixed in at the rendering stage.

Importing data can be acceptable if the original source has ceased to 
update the data *and* OSMers have a good chance to improve the data, but 
even then there is a risk of damaging the community or preventing one 
from forming. Imports run the danger of sacrificing the medium- and 
long-term success for short-term gains.

Importing data is, in my eyes, almost never acceptable if the original 
source is still maintaining the data (because keeping stuff in sync is 
practically impossible and it is better to simply not have that data in 
OSM and rely on the original source exclusively), or if imported data 
cannot be maintained by mappers (either because there are none, or 
because the data is not visible on the ground).

There may be some exceptions where e.g. importing a basic road grid can 
kick-start development, or where having the data in OSM to align other 
data with it is extremely usable, but these are really exceptions.

Bye
Frederik