[OSM-talk] Was the deletion of Null Island reasonable?

[stevea]

On Jan 9, 2022, at 4:43 PM, Martin Koppenhoefer <dieterdreist at gmail.com> wrote:
> agreed the origin is important, but as it is intrinsic, I do not see a need to add a node there. On the other hand, it is just a single node, in an area where it isn’t really interfering with anything, that’s why it could easily be tolerated despite being pointless as an object.

Thank you, Martin!  That is cordial, courteous, kind and generous of you.  Yes, it is a "just a single node."

Null island is unique.  It is OSM's "origin."  There is only one of these.

Similar to how cadestrals have a First Meridian (at national levels) all over Earth, OSM had / can have one such unique node:  simplicity itself.  And, according to every node in OSM:  BILLIONS! all refer here, so in a huge sense of reality, Null Island already is THE reality, OUR (OSM's) reality, unarguably.

I don't see it as a big deal to say "this might feel exceptional to some of us, as it isn't a real place in some existential sense...but this is where OSM says Earth Starts Here."  That's all Null Island is.

(I like this place, these people, this planet.  Thank you for cordial dialog, everyone.)