[OSM-talk] Label language on the Default stylesheet

[Christoph Hormann]

On Monday 25 September 2017, Frederik Ramm wrote:
>
> Oh, in case I wasn't clear - what I said above was not with irony;
> indeed, for my personal use, I want a map that shows me names I can
> read. Which, I assume, everyone does.

Yes, of course - we need to clearly differentiate between 'i want a map 
that...' and 'i want the standard OSM map to...'.

I also do need a map with names i can read everywhere on earth in many 
cases but as you already said this need is mostly quite well served by 
both commercial and non-commercial styles from local communities (like 
the German OSM style).

> I share your "diversity" viewpoint, although one must also see that
> by only displaying the "name", some people in regions with non-latin
> script but strong western cultural influence could feel forced to
> include a Latin rendering of the name in their "name" tags or even
> use Latin renderings altogether for "name". A future option of
> "display the name you like" will also free these mappers to map the
> correct local names.

Yes, the problem that mappers need to decide on a single name for 'the 
local name' is definitely an issue, in particular in regions that are 
largely multilingual (i.e. where several language have a strong base 
and there is no clear primary language) but also if locals specifically 
want to serve outside interests.  The way this is currently often 
solved by having several names in the name tag is not satisfying.

-- 
Christoph Hormann
http://www.imagico.de/