[OSM-talk] Addresses are a tiny fraction of what we do (was: The world’s best addressable map)

[Martin Koppenhoefer]

2014-10-24 13:17 GMT+02:00 Marc Gemis <marc.gemis at gmail.com>:

> For me it is not unthinkable that once a company starts using OSM data for
> a commercial offering, they might start demanding to add that data.
>


indeed, could happen from time to time ;-)



> Of course they cannot demand anything from the community, but they can
> import the data, or some people might feel a need to import data, or...
> .... But for me, allowing (address) imports is already a form of obeying
> that marketing demand.
>


if you have address information in a suitable license to import it into
OSM, you can do this. All that is required is that you check the data
regarding its quality (accuracy, currentness etc.), document your plan,
explain how you will merge existing data and discuss this with the local
comunity and the "experts" on the import list.



> Then OSM is no longer about people surveying and drawing from aerial
> images.
>


? We'd still need to survey in order to do the maintenance work and correct
errors. That's the main reason why imports are often seen as problematic:
they will not create a comunity, rather there are indications that the
growth of the comunity will slow down when everything looks "completed",
and then you'll have the same errors in our db than all the other people
that have imported from the official source, and no-one near to fix them or
feeling "responsible" for it. If the amount of errors is significant, more
data will actively draw people away (fixing bugs is less appealing to many
mappers than setting the first foot steps on white map canvas).

cheers,
Martin
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