State of the Map 2026 • Hacker News Board

Re: State of the Map 2026

#21

Post by beardyw » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:26 PM UTC

kenmacd wrote: post #17

gmiller123456 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even though he can't tell others to follow them, they often choose to do so anyway. E.g. Google Maps displays the Gulf of America.

It doesn't for me (although it does include it in parentheses after the real name), so I'm going to hope this is only an 'only in the US' change.

Here in the UK it still says Ontario.

Interesting that he changed the name to that of the entire continent, so Mexicans and Venezuelans can feel part of it.

Re: State of the Map 2026

#22

Post by c0nsumer » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:41 PM UTC

I absolutely love OpenStreetMap. Back when I first started building (legal) mountain bike trails I realized that without a map they aren't the most useful. OSM gave me the system in which to document them, and then from there I was able to reuse the data to make print maps and eventually my current project: https://trailmaps.app

Re: State of the Map 2026

#23

Post by hrnnnnnn » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC

If you want a fun and easy way to contribute to OSM I recommend StreetComplete. You get a bunch of game-like quest icons for things like "what is the surface of this path?", and "does this road have a cycle path?", then you walk around and fill them in.

Very satisfying and feels like you're doing something actually useful. Also nudges you to visit parts of your neighborhood you might never have been to before.

Re: State of the Map 2026

#24

Post by thangalin » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:54 PM UTC

https://shufflenblues.com/location/

I used OpenStreetMaps to create a map with a theme that fits the website theme. There were no other free options that I could find to accomplish this goal. Moreover, the map works on just about every browser under the sun. Great work by their team.

Re: State of the Map 2026

#25

Post by michaefe » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:55 PM UTC

Michelin being a higher tier sponsor than Esri is interesting

Re: State of the Map 2026

#26

Post by xp84 » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 5:23 PM UTC

Jimpulse wrote: post #2

Does OpenStreetMap comply with US executive order naming?

It’s interesting how the “preserve traditional historical names - don’t change the names on things for political reasons” role flipped to the left when that particular person started renaming things. In this case especially - a body of water that is between two countries has no “correct” namesake. It merely has a “traditional” name justified by “that’s just always what we’ve called it.” Tradition suddenly became very important to the American left wing when that rename happened.

Re: State of the Map 2026

#27

Post by xp84 » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 5:26 PM UTC

scrollop wrote: post #9

Jimpulse wrote: post #2

Does OpenStreetMap comply with US executive order naming?

Hopefully not. Whatever changes Mr Trump demands will likely be temporary, regardless.

good to know both parties apparently feel that “petty renaming of things” is a good use of time for the government. So we’ll just start every change in party control with a raft of renames to thumb our noses at “The Former Guy.” Productive.

Re: State of the Map 2026

#28

Post by nelblu » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 5:30 PM UTC

fitblipper wrote: post #20

Contributing to Open Street Map has given me a ton of satisfaction. Knowing that my somewhat minor efforts to correct one address, add one feature, correct one trail will propagate to so many different places and help other people not get lost, find something new, or just be able to navigate more safely in the world makes me feel like I am leaving the world a better place more than a decade of working at FANG ever di…

THIS. My comment is somewhat tangential but I thought still relevant. I used to work for huge financial investment company with over a trillion dollars of assets for over 10 years. I never thought I was making positive difference in people's lives. However, my job offered me so many opportunities to volunteer and I would jump on every single one of those, and that made working there totally worthwhile. I still work for another huge company these days, which offers similar opportunities to make a difference in the community and that is what keeps me going here too.

There is something to be said about building tools out of kindness and not for greed. Thank you for your contributions to OSM and Thank you OSM developers too - big fan and user!

Re: State of the Map 2026

#29

Post by W3zzy » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 5:43 PM UTC

fitblipper wrote: post #20

Contributing to Open Street Map has given me a ton of satisfaction. Knowing that my somewhat minor efforts to correct one address, add one feature, correct one trail will propagate to so many different places and help other people not get lost, find something new, or just be able to navigate more safely in the world makes me feel like I am leaving the world a better place more than a decade of working at FANG ever di…

True, I use mapcomplete or streetcomplete to kill time when traveling. I use public transport a lot. I've racked up thousands of minor edits, addi g opening hours, accesability info and what not to the map. It's been very satifactory.

I work in public service and I've grotten so many people on board that the map in my region is pretty darned good.

Re: State of the Map 2026

#30

Post by recursive » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 5:49 PM UTC

alex1138 wrote: post #6

hansvm wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fiat never works for linguistic shifts. That order is about as likely to work as telling a kid to stop saying "six seven."

I'm in favor of legislation to stop the '67' craze

One of its purposes is to annoy serious adults. If legislation is created, I would estimate it would extend its life somewhere between 3 weeks and infinity.