[OSM-talk] THIS is the kind of enthusiasm some would reject

[moltonel 3x Combo]

On 15/09/2015, Martin Koppenhoefer <dieterdreist at gmail.com> wrote:
> thing is, a dismantled railway has no end_date, it only has a start_date and
> will continue to be a dismantled railway, till the end of time

Yes.

On 15/09/2015, Martin Koppenhoefer <dieterdreist at gmail.com> wrote:
> railway=dismantled on the other hand is not a past feature, it is a
> dismantled railway now, in the present. In the past it was a railway=rail
> etc.

I don't understand how a feature can be both "dismantled till the end
of time" and "in the present". The only state that you can keep
forever is the state of not being. To me, "dismantled" as used in OSM
rails is a much stronger definition than "dismantled legos", it is a
synonym for "fully gone". Saying that something is "fully gone in the
present" is a roundabout way of saying that it is in the past.

The start_date of the railway=dismantled is the end_date of the
railway=abandoned/rail. So why not tag the railway=rail/abandoned with
the date of its demise (not with a trolltag like end_date, but with
something that doesn't trip up presentfans) instead of
railway=dismantled ?