[OSM-talk] Things People Say

[Serge Wroclawski]

On Thu, Dec 29, 2011 at 7:20 PM, Frederik Ramm <frederik at remote.org> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On 12/29/2011 10:39 PM, Ben Johnson wrote:
>>
>> There seems to be a duality of identity here. On one hand, some are
>> saying lets make it more accessible and friendly to "ordinary people".
>> On the other hand, some appear embarrassed by the prominence of maps to
>> represent what our community is all about, and they want to retain a
>> geeky "we are not a map, we are a database" ideology.
>
>
> This is not a geeky ideology, this is the heart of our project.
>
> Otherwise we'd all be using the Gimp (or maybe Inkscape), and not JOSM or
> Potlatch.

Let's remember that Frederik believes that not everyone should be a
map contributor, that there's value in a high bar for contribution.
Frederik, if you think I'm misrepresenting you, please say so- but I
think this belies the difference in the two views.

This reminds me a lot of the early Debian arguments:   "Linux can't be
for the masses" turned into "I like compiling my own kernel and we
should have a high bar for contribution."

Fast forward five years, and I'm using Ubuntu.

I agree wholeheartedly with the view that OSM should be providing
maps. I think as long as we continue to cling to this idea that we
want third parties to make the maps, then we limit the project's
viability, its success and its overall accuracy.

I hope strongly that the view will change, that the OSMF board will
reflect this view. I've seen a slight shift already in the time I've
been with the project. There's far more room for discussion on the
point than there was just a few years ago, but I'm also worried that
the strong beliefs of respected core project members like Frederik
have driven away those who care about the project, but don't share the
same views.

- Serge