On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 4:46 PM, Alan Wright <alanwright.a...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> I think OpenStreetMap needs a "shop window" - perhaps a different website > altogether. I disagree. OSM doesn't need a faked-up website to show what can be done. There's plenty of real places using the data for real applications, and that's waaay better than anything that is conceived just for showing-off. OSM needs two aspects - a place which is a hive of mapping activity (i.e. for mappers) and places of OSM consumption. IMnotveryHO the consumption stuff has been left to others, and rightfully so. If we want to show off OSM to consumers, then lets point them to awesome places that are using OSM data. And then on the other front, which boils down to what should openstreetmap.org be focussed on, that's everything that's needed for mapping activity. Like a ship's bridge or a surgical theatre or a well-stocked toolbench it should have everything close to hand that mappers need to get their jobs done, and do it well. Maps to see what's there. Tools to edit the data and inspect it. Ways to communicate with other mappers. Calendars to organise parties. Blogs to keep the community bound together. One small part of that (in the "inspecting the data" part) is routing. I don't want a journey planner on osm.org (unless it's for getting to the mapping parties :-) ) but I do need a way to check the connectivity and correctness of the mapping data. And not as some hidden extra in an editor I don't happen to use - it should be somewhere close to hand. We started with a map and then developed maplint, nonames, keepright et al, so we should start with point-to-point routing and then figure out how we can improve things - with the primary purpose being to help mappers. Cheers, Andy _______________________________________________ talk mailing list talk@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
