[OSM-talk] open question about boundaries sharing nodes with ways or nodes

[Maarten Deen]

On 2015-10-14 11:31, Frederik Ramm wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On 10/14/2015 10:56 AM, Martin Koppenhoefer wrote:
>>     (If this happens - if the boundary is defined by the river or the
>>     highway - then you still have various options of modeling this, 
>> for
>>     example having two ways share the same nodes,
>> 
>> wouldn't this kind of modelling be "wrong"? If the boundary IS the
>> river, there shouldn't be 2 different objects there, should they?
> 
> Academic detail. "Is" the boundary the river, or is the boundary a 
> thing
> its own right, the geometry of which is described by the river? I think
> you can argue either way.

And the legal part can be different too. It can be that the boundary is 
the river and it will change when the river changes, it can also be that 
the boundary has been defined as the river at a point in time and if the 
river changes after that point, the boundary does not change with it.

And since it is easy to change ways in OSM and people will change 
visible features, either based on own visual confirmation or based on 
aerial photo's (which as we all know may have an offset) and will 
probably not be so eager to change "official" boundaries, I would alwas 
separate the two.

Regards,
Maarten