[OSM-talk] Multiple Layers for OSM

[Jochen Topf]

On Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 03:28:50PM +0100, Matt Amos wrote:
> On Mon, 2012-09-24 at 09:36 +0200, Jochen Topf wrote:
> > It turns out there are many other interesting uses of multiple layers but also
> > many technical and social questions around them. I have written down my thoughts
> > on this subject in a (rather lengthy) blog post:
> > 
> > http://blog.jochentopf.com/2012-09-23-multiple-layers-for-osm.html
> 
> what do you think of the Potlatch 2 vector backgrounds [1] and "snapshot
> server" [2] as steps in the direction of fixing this?
> [...]
> [1] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Potlatch_2_merging_tool
> [2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Snapshot_Server

Those are good pieces of the puzzle. I think we need to bring those and other
different pieces together into something conceptually hole.

1. First we need a way for everybody to host their own data layers. The
   Snapshot server is one option, the RailsPort another. Ideally I would
   like to see one server software that everybody can install and configure
   according to their needs.
2. Then we need a way of adressing those layers globally. I proposed using
   URLs with meta data behind them and some registration service in my blog
   post.
3. Then we need tools to bring those layers together in different ways. All
   major editors already support some kind of layering. They need to support
   this adressing. And we need to support extract, copy, merging, etc. of
   the data.

What I am thinking about here is really not that big of a step. It is just
a more integrated way of thinking about the pieces and formalizing some
interfaces so that the pieces fit well together.

Jochen
-- 
Jochen Topf  jochen at remote.org  http://www.remote.org/jochen/  +49-721-388298