David Earl [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >Sent: 17 December 2007 11:09 AM >To: Frederik Ramm >Cc: Andy Robinson ((blackadder)); talk-gb@openstreetmap.org; 'Abigail >Brady' >Subject: Re: [Talk-GB] [OSM-talk] "Unsurfaced road" and "Byway"? > >On 17/12/2007 10:51, Frederik Ramm wrote: >> Andy R., Andy A., >> >>> And map features is not a voted-on only list. Anyone can add what >>> they like >>> and others can change what they like. It's a wiki page. I just added >>> landuse=military btw. If someone doesn't like that one then they >>> are free to >>> change/delete it. Same applies to any other tag. >> >> I'm totally with you on this. However many newcomers, and many >> Germans, and most of all the intersection between these two groups, >> really really crave a world where there is a right and a wrong. ("We >> have to use identical tags the world over, otherwise routing will >> never work" and so on.) There's not one week on the German mailing >> list without someone presenting his ultimate reasoning which roads >> are to be tagged what. >> >> It is really very difficult do convey the idea of total tagging >> freedom, especially to newcomers. It just sounds like it's never >> going to work and so people don't believe you. It is a real challenge >> to explain how and why it works nonetheless. Maybe we have to create >> a FAQ somewhere for this ("But how is it going to work if everybody >> can just do what he likes?"). >> >> As for the voting process, I think it has to be taken with a grain of >> salt. Some people are doing a lot of work in that field and we >> shouldn't disregard their work completely - it is ok to have a >> structured process, also makes people think about what they want and >> encourages discussion. But of course it must not claim exclusivity >> (exclusiveness?). > >If tags come about by simple use, fine. But people have to know about >them (and what they mean - it may be obvious to the inventor, but it may >not be to others, and there are always variations and nuances the >original author hadn't thought of). > >For example, man_made=mast. This is recognised by JOSM in that it has an >icon, and presumably it is in fairly widespread use. But it isn't on >map_features or proposed_features. So what does it mean? I've used it >for telecommunications towers (mobile phone masts, TV transmission etc), >but maybe the originator had in mind only one of those (or something >bizarre like ship's masts for all I know!). (I think I might add this to >Map_features). > >But if people use random tags to describe objects for which consensus >already exists, then we have anarchy and the map will be completely >unusable. >
This is why I think deriving the list from planet would be much better. The majority of tags in use already have descriptions on the wiki that can go against a listed tag. Where an item doesn't it offers the opportunity for those using the tag to add something. If nothing gets added then it's probably a pretty useless tag as you say, in which case nobody will use it. If when a planet list is periodically dumped it lists with it the statistics of use then it provides all, including newbie's, with a clear indication of whether it's a tag they should be using or not. Cheers Andy _______________________________________________ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/talk-gb