[OSM-talk] Tagging Governance

[Joseph Eisenberg]

"curated, simple information on themain tags that are _used_"

Originally this was maintained at Map Features
(http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features), and this page is
still somewhat "curated"; not just any tag can be added, most of the
very common tags are included, and many people are watching the page
for changes

But this is a wiki page, so sometimes rare or proposed tags are added
without discussion. I've removed a few of these over the past few
months. In theory new tags should be added either because they are
already "de facto" accepted, as shown by frequent use in many places
mappers, and support by database users, but tags can also be added to
Map Features through the Proposal Process with discussion on the
mailing list and wiki.

Changing to a github-like system of version management would require
some people to serve as "maintainers" or "moderators" of the new,
curated list of Map Features / Tags, wouldn't it? While this could be
an improvement in the quality and consistency of how decisions are
made, it would also limit participation and centralize
decision-making.

I've recently tried to start discussions about how new tags should be
added to Map Features and have asked specifically about adding some
"in use" / "de facto" tags. Perhaps the current wiki-based system is
fine, as long as enough people are invested in maintaining it.

It might be helpful to agree that Tag: and Key: pages on the
Openstreetmap wiki should document "de facto", actual mapping practice
rather than what a particular person thinks should be done - this
being reserved for Proposal pages.

- Joseph

On 9/11/19, Christoph Hormann <osm at imagico.de> wrote:
> On Wednesday 11 September 2019, Richard Fairhurst wrote:
>>
>> The main thing we're missing is curated, simple information on the
>> main tags that are _used_.
>
> Indeed.  And i would go even further:  Any documentation of the de facto
> use of tags written by humans (i.e. that goes beyond automatic analysis
> like taginfo), written and maintained in a way that ensures it actually
> does document the de facto situation, would be immensely useful and
> important.
>
>> It needs an
>> editor/curator/whatever, to have clear editorial guidelines, and
>> probably to run on the pull request model rather than open editing.
>
> Is there any mature and writer centric software that implements this
> kind of model?  I mean that from the perspective of a documentation
> author offers a wiki like functionality with decent preview and
> formatting but at the same time comes with a kind of version management
> and functions to facilitate editorial review and discussion.
>
> --
> Christoph Hormann
> http://www.imagico.de/
>
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