[OSM-talk] A message to our friends at HOT, Peace Corps etc. about Changeset Comments

[Jóhannes Birgir Jensson]

> HOT uses the OSM database/platform and therefore it has to adapt and
> follow OSM's rules. Nobody forces you to use OSM. Why don't you do
> something like OpenHistoricalMap and use your own database basrd on
> OSM software?

There are no rules for changeset comments. They are an optional feature, 
the number of empty comments each day is substantial yet I don't see 
them being advocated for removal.

> A mapper should be able to get an idea what has been edited at a given
> changeset without decrypting the changeset comment using an external
> service (HOT tasking manager in this case). Who guarantees that HOT
> tasking manager will still be online in 5 or 10 years?

This feature already exists on the OSM website, looking at changesets.

> I have no problem with an entry in ANY language. Wolf, French etc etc. 
> I probably won't understand it directly ... but I can use a web based 
> translator.

No you probably will not be able to use a web based translator for the 
majority of languages. Setswana is the primary language of around 6 
million people in South Africa and Botswana (official language) and 
secondary of maybe 8 million more. There is no online translator for it. 
Those that have gotten used to Google Translate will be shocked to find 
out the number and size of many languages missing from it, nevermind the 
quality of automatic translations.

The number of hashtags in the comment might be getting a bit too much 
though!