[OSM-talk] Zero tolerance on imports

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

Richard Fairhurst wrote:
> It isn't. How do we stop this impression taking hold? How do we explain 
> that imports are _not_ welcome except as a last resort, and if you do 
> them, you _must_ follow a very, very rigorous set of guidelines?

Find out what tools the importers are using. Place very big warnings in 
the existing bulk uploaders etc.; JOSM could probably be made to issue a 
warning (JOSM is good at warnings) when you load a local file with lots 
of negative IDs and try to upload that:

"Uploading this file will incur the wrath of Richard Fairhurst. Continue?"

Also, http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Imports is currently painting 
the picture that imports are something for the real pros - and could 
even be interpreted as: "You're a real cool guy if you manage to do an 
import properly." - when instead it should read: "Every import damages 
the project, sacrificing long-term health for a short-term nice-looking 
map."

Finally, all these warnings must sound hollow to someone who lives in a 
place where 90% of data around him is imported. You will have a hard 
time telling him that imports are bad. Maybe we should treat every 
import as provisional, and if it hasn't been taken up and improved upon 
by a local community after 12 months, remove it again.

I know and accept that some people do not have a strong anti-import 
mindset. But I think we will all agree that even one mapper discouraged 
by his work being plastered over with an import is the worst possible 
outcome.

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"