[OSM-talk] [HOT] Nametagging: Local script versus "international" latin script (for Libya)

[Jean-Guilhem Cailton]

Le 28/02/2011 01:00, Stephan Knauss a écrit :
> On 27.02.2011 21:14, Jean-Guilhem Cailton wrote:
>>> Maybe I can convince german community member Stephan Knauss to join
>>> the HOT team as he set up great bilingual maps like
>>> http://thaimap.osm-tools.org or http://iran.osm-tools.org
>
> Would it help to have bilingual rendering? I think porting a map
> similar the Iran one should be done quite easy. It already has
> bilingual names and font adjustments to improve readability of the map.
>
> Currently the minutely diff update is tailored to the thaimap. With
> some rework I guess it should be possible to enable the minutely diff
> also for Libya. Until then a manual daily update is the thing I can
> offer.
>
> Would this be of any help? Please let me know.
>
> Stephan
>

Of course, this would help. Please go, ahead. The progressive deployment
and generalization of such tools will facilitate proper  handling of
several languages.

It would not solve the problem for all tools, of course. For example,
MapOSMatic of Tripoli apparently uses the name field. So my
recommendation, given the feedback received so far, would still be to
use Latin + Arabic in the name field.


Regarding readability of the map, I'd like to raise the issue of place
definition and rendering (city/town/village...) The global convention is
based on uniform population numbers. (> 100000 / > 10000 / ...). While
these may be well suited for densely populated countries, like United
Kingdom or Germany, coupled with the current renderings, it produces
maps that look "empty" (compared with other providers) in other
countries. Typically in Libya, with its large desert areas (but also in
France, for example).

For roads, for example, the convention can be adapted to the local
context. "An unpaved surface is not considered a road" in GB, for
example, but in other countries this might be the standard surface.

Similarly, it might be appropriate to define local conventions (on a
country by country basis, for example) for the urban fabric.

Maybe your tool, specific to a country, can make it possible to
experiment on the rendering of places.

In the meantime, maybe the global definition could be applied to Libya
with some flexibility. For example, a city of slightly less than 100 000
inhabitants, or a town of slightly less than 10 000 inhabitants, but
isolated in the desert, might be bulged to the upper "OSM standard"
category, (which would then actually better match the semantics). It
would thus be given a chance to appear "on the radar", which might not
be the case otherwise. At least, this is what I confess of doing sometimes.

The population field could of course be a useful information for this issue.


Best wishes,
 

Jean-Guilhem
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