[OSM-talk] Hashtags are not sufficient changeset comments
Frederik Ramm
frederik at remote.org
Sun Apr 18 11:22:23 UTC 2021
Hi,
most of you reading this list will be aware that the changeset comment
is a place where you communicate to other mappers what you have done (or
intended) in this changeset, but I do want to raise awareness for this,
and ask everyone to help with that endeavour.
Writing a human-readable changeset comment means showing respect to
other volunteers in OpenStreetMap with whom you are cooperating.
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Good_changeset_comments explains
this in more detail, and in 16 languages.
Hashtags can be used in addition to a good changeset comment but they
can never replace it. A changeset comment with 10 hashtags that aren't
documented anywhere is worse than no changeset at all. With such a
changeset comment you're shouting at other mappers "if you don't
understand this letter salad then you're not part of my team, go away!"
When I encounter changesets that consist exclusively, or even mainly, of
changeset comments, I write a short changeset discussion entry
explaining how changesets comments are aimed at, and should be readable
by, other human beings, and therefore they should be written in a
natural language. (Usually that would one of the languages commonly used
in the region being edited, or English.)
If you are a mapper: Lead with a good example, and write human-readable
changeset comments. Whenever you encounter changeset comments that are
not human-readable, politely ask the other mapper to change their
approach. (If an active mapper stubbornly refuses to write
human-readable changesets, you can report them to the DWG and we'll ask
them again.)
If you are involved in teaching other mappers, or creating organised
activities: Make sure that new mappers understand that changeset
comments are not some unnecessary stuffing; they are how you address
other people in this project. Keep your hashtags to minimum that is
necessary. Improve your statistics software to count better, instead of
instructing users to swamp changeset comments with 10 different hashtags.
Bye
Frederik
--
Frederik Ramm ## eMail frederik at remote.org ## N49°00'09" E008°23'33"
More information about the talk
mailing list