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

[Maarten Deen]

> Op 10-01-2022 01:51 schreef stevea <steveaosm at softworkers.com>:
> 
>  
> 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."

I am baiscally with Martin here. And that means I think the whole discussion is pointless and fruitless and will probably never come to consensus. There will always be people on either side of the argument and it is likely that at some point one of the sides will be bored with the discussion, meaning the other side will say there is no opposition will claim to have won the argument.

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

There are many things unique. The question is: does it serve a purpose. Does a node being there provide some service that is needed and can not otherwise be made.

> 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.

It is not where _OSM_ says Earth Starts Here. The idea of the equator and the 0 meridian are not OSM's, so it is not OSM that says the Earth Starts Here. If that is an expression at all. If someone were to ask me where earth starts I would say the north pole. Because that is the top.

Regards,
Maarten