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Openstreetmap is having a moment

joemorrison.medium.com

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Re: Openstreetmap is having a moment

#111

Post by pabs3 »

lapinot wrote: post #37

Any recommendation for an OSM viewer/querier on linux? Bonus for lightweight and maybe cli stuff. Every couple years i try some of the software listed on the wiki [#] but i'm never convinced. edit: trying foxtrotgps right now, might be the current best edit2: can't get foxtrotgps to build, but gpxsee is an ok viewer. It doesn't seem to have any graphopper search or anything tho, so again, not really convincing. [#] h…

FTR: FoxtrotGPS needs someone to help migrate it away from Glade and GTK 2, otherwise it is going to disappear from Linux distros in the next few years.

Re: Openstreetmap is having a moment

#112

Post by pabs3 »

jmkb wrote: post #34
rayrag wrote: post #17

I have questions about OSM: 1. Is there any decent OSM app for Windows10 (good UI and offline capabilities is a must-have) 2. How can I display Russian/Chinese/Arabic city names in English? 3. If I create an OSM account will I be able to save routes and addresses? Edit: Thanks for answers.

1. Not currently, the only semi-decent offline OSM map for desktop OS is Gnome Maps. [0] 2. You can't configure the way maps appear on openstreetmap.org. You (or someone) will have to render the map tiles to display all names in English instead of the local language. [1] 3. If you mean keeping a personal list of map and route bookmarks, no. The primary reason to create an OSM account is to contribute data to the map.…

GNOME Maps isn't offline like OsmAnd is though, you can't download new tiles, search, navigate etc without network.

Re: Openstreetmap is having a moment

#113

Post by SulfurHexaFluri »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #108
SulfurHexaFluri wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does OSM continuously get better faster than it gets worse? A few years ago I started contributing heavily to OSM and found that a lot of the data was out of date or missing. I made some really good maps of my local area but now a few years later a lot of that data is out of date and no one will bother to update it. Google and Apple maps have the advantage that businesses will go and update their own data because its…

Rather than contribute heavily and then walk away for years, it would make more sense to pace yourself and do a little bit every month or so.

I was very interested a while ago and then the magic wore off after I realized the problem was not the lack of data but the lack of good apps for using the data and I don't have the time or skills for app development.

Re: Openstreetmap is having a moment

#114

Post by flukus »

SulfurHexaFluri wrote: post #94
labawi wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When businesses realize people actually use OSM and updates are 10x easier, they will make sure to keep it up to date, for the same reasons. OSM actually needs less popularity to stay up to date, it's just not there (yet).

Do people really use OSM for POI data on any meaningful scale? I tried really hard to use OSM but all the apps were really bad. OSMAnd seemed like the best one but it was super slow rendering on my phone while everything else was snappy. The only use I have seen for OSM data is in 3rd party apps like strava where you only really need street data which is pretty accurate on OSM. Or other specialized cases where you mo…

> Do people really use OSM for POI data on any meaningful scale?

I've tried but IME this is where OSM isn't great and I find myself using google maps. I hope it improves but I wonder if this is the sort of thing that goes to the core of what sort of product it is. OSM is fantastic at maps, if I want to navigate around my immediate area that's what I'll use. Google maps is a fantastic location database, if I'm trying to find something I'll use it but the maps suck.

Re: Openstreetmap is having a moment

#115

Post by splonk »

I hope OSM does well, and I've heard that in some areas (Germany? Various areas in smaller countries that are less well covered? Bike trails and walking trails?) it's notably better than Google Maps. That said, in my neighborhood of San Francisco (the Mission), its business listings are basically straight garbage, and I'm reminded of that every time I use any service that's based on OSM.

Lazy Bear is a two Michelin starred restaurant that's been in its current location since 2014. By any reasonable measure it's a significant business in the area. OSM still thinks it's the barbeque place that used to be there. Within a two block radius I count maybe 5-6 places that OSM promotes to having a label on the map that have been closed for over a year.

I used to work on business listings in mapping products so I have some idea of how difficult keeping business listings up to date is, but OSM is so bad that it wrecks my motivation to fix the data because I just can't fathom ever using it in my local area.

Re: Openstreetmap is having a moment

#116

Post by JaggedNZ »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #81
walrus01 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If all you want to host is a "slippy map" tile server for maps, but no search features, it's considerably less. In my case, it's not hard for me to create an off-laptop VM as a resource... I would not want to attempt self hosting OSM on my own laptop. No matter how powerful it is. If it's for any sort of for-profit company use (like the ISPs using openstreetmap for network monitoring maps I mentioned in the same thre…

My laptop is better than what the company can provide! Just because I work at a "for-profit" startup doesn't mean they actually make a profit. I even had to transition our servers from AWS to DigitalOcean just to save on server costs. I'll probably first look into running it on a dedicated SSD on the spare laptop, and if that goes well, move some subset onto my main laptop (2014 MacBook Pro 15" with 4TB SSD). For a "…

I'd suggest you figure out how to source or render your map tiles from somewhere else before you get a nastygram from the big G.

I have not used it in many many years but I'd point you towards https://mapserver.org/ At one point I was one of many responsible for rending cache tile sets for all of NZ to 1:500. Sadly the whole system was scraped for a propriety solution mostly due to front-end issues, that funnily enough the propriety solution only multiplied.

Re: Openstreetmap is having a moment

#118

Post by andrewshadura »

lapinot wrote: post #37

Any recommendation for an OSM viewer/querier on linux? Bonus for lightweight and maybe cli stuff. Every couple years i try some of the software listed on the wiki [#] but i'm never convinced. edit: trying foxtrotgps right now, might be the current best edit2: can't get foxtrotgps to build, but gpxsee is an ok viewer. It doesn't seem to have any graphopper search or anything tho, so again, not really convincing. [#] h…

GNOME Maps?

Re: Openstreetmap is having a moment

#119

Post by andrewshadura »

lapinot wrote: post #37

Any recommendation for an OSM viewer/querier on linux? Bonus for lightweight and maybe cli stuff. Every couple years i try some of the software listed on the wiki [#] but i'm never convinced. edit: trying foxtrotgps right now, might be the current best edit2: can't get foxtrotgps to build, but gpxsee is an ok viewer. It doesn't seem to have any graphopper search or anything tho, so again, not really convincing. [#] h…

Also Maps.me, but tricky to build.

Re: Openstreetmap is having a moment

#120

Post by schoen »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #69
dmitriid wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> After I did a Show HN about my OSM-powered project ( https://trailrouter.com ), This is just amazing! I immediately bookmarked and sent it to friends. But I'm not a runner myself, I prefer bikes :) Do you perchance know of something similar for bikes? Though in Sweden, where I live right now, Trail Router would work very well for bikes, too, especially outside cities.

cycle.travel (my site!) is OSM-powered bike routing, including a “n km from start point” feature. Always happy to hear comments and suggestions. https://cycle.travel/map

Wow, that's really neat! The suggested routes of a particular length is an awesome feature I've never seen anywhere before.

I also like the street name initials concept -- if you're familiar with the cycling routes in an area, you're likely to recognize them.

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