Live data from Hacker News

Switch to OpenStreetMap

switch2osm.org

101–110 of 210 posts

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Satellite images are not map data in the same way that a photo of a machine is not a blueprint.

I think if the machine was two dimensional and the photo had a measurement scale then it would be as good as a blueprint.

The machine is not, and neither is the world. Even if it were, it would still not be as good. It would not tell you about materials, tolerances, or many other important things.

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#103

Ok.. i want to serve tiles... ok, I go here: https://switch2osm.org/serving-tiles/ First option (Build a tile server using packages) ... i click on it.. ubuntu packages... i don't have ubuntu here, let's go back. Second option (Build a tile server from source), takes me here: https://switch2osm.org/?page_id=76 ... where is the documentation? How do i build it from source? Ok fsck it, let's try the "all in one solutio…

Pardon my ignorance, but I'm wondering if anybody has experience with running OpenGIS in Postgres with one of the supported mapping servers listed on their about page? (https://postgis.net/features/)

I looked at this for a POC but was notably out of my depth and gave up. I'm not sure exactly how the tileserver OSM provides differs from the mapping servers in the link above.

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#104
post #45

For anyone that doesn't know, it's trivial to load OSM onto a Garmin GPS and use is for turn-by-turn navigation, for free. I've used it in over 40 countries (including Africa, Europe, North America) and it is staggeringly complete and accurate. From the mega capital cities to the tiniest village, it has every single dirt track, school, hospital, gas station, roundabout, intersection, etc. etc. I can count on one hand…

Website design is lacking, but I use http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ to download routeable data when traveling.

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#105
While I managed to set up a tile server in the past, I found it nearly impossible to find concise information on how to setup all the rest.

Especially the geocoding part to convert addresses to points on the map/geo coordinates, or something like the search box on openstreetmap.org.

Holding the map information up to date was another topic...

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#106
post #45

For anyone that doesn't know, it's trivial to load OSM onto a Garmin GPS and use is for turn-by-turn navigation, for free. I've used it in over 40 countries (including Africa, Europe, North America) and it is staggeringly complete and accurate. From the mega capital cities to the tiniest village, it has every single dirt track, school, hospital, gas station, roundabout, intersection, etc. etc. I can count on one hand…

Some countries are mapped poorly in OSM. Examples are: Mongolia and Cambodia. Many roads and buildings are missing.

Interesting, like I said I've never seen a country that isn't shockingly good.

I travelled extensively in 35 African countries - including a bunch you wouldn't expect to get good data for like The DRC, Burundi, Sudan, Mali, Gambia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, etc. As well as Belgium, France, Spain, Canada, USA

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#107
post #27

How can I, as sole map user, can help Open Street Map to thrive?

If your local region is already well mapped you can check https://tasks.openstreetmap.us/ for "armchair" mapping.

There's many QA tools with error reports that need attention https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Quality_assurance

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#108
post #2

As a consumer, I was just looking for mobile apps. I couldn't find any on this page. Are there any?

There are many. I guess the switch2org authors didn't want to copy https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Software/Mobile

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Comparison_of_iOS_applic...

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Android_ap...

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#109
post #103

Ok.. i want to serve tiles... ok, I go here: https://switch2osm.org/serving-tiles/ First option (Build a tile server using packages) ... i click on it.. ubuntu packages... i don't have ubuntu here, let's go back. Second option (Build a tile server from source), takes me here: https://switch2osm.org/?page_id=76 ... where is the documentation? How do i build it from source? Ok fsck it, let's try the "all in one solutio…

Pardon my ignorance, but I'm wondering if anybody has experience with running OpenGIS in Postgres with one of the supported mapping servers listed on their about page? ( https://postgis.net/features/ ) I looked at this for a POC but was notably out of my depth and gave up. I'm not sure exactly how the tileserver OSM provides differs from the mapping servers in the link above.

I have, a few years ago. Unless things have changed dramatically, I would plan to have one full-time person work for a couple weeks to set this up, and a few weeks more if you want to set it up in a way that the map updates automatically over time. Doc is often out of date, some of the tools are unstable, the amount of data to wrangle is not trivial, and checking that your map is ok is actually not that easy, eg you might not find out immediately that the coastline is cutting across some random city in some corner of Asia.

Re: Switch to OpenStreetMap

#110
post #30
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

have you tried OsmAnd https://osmand.net/ ? I'm using it for years, travelling around the world when i need to have offline maps with me and it works good most of the time. I'm not saying it's the best and the fastest map, but it helped me tons of time to find an A-> B route - being a pedestrian, a cyclist or travelling by a public transport

The biggest drawback for me (coming from someone who exclusively uses OsmAnd for nav) is the lack of geocoding. I can't just type in an address and get a reliable destination pin to navigate to, instead I have to paste the address into a website that will convert it to lat/long first and then use that to drop the pin. That's the main issue that prevents me from recommending OsmAnd to people like my wife who are happy…

If you click the search button in the map view you're shown a keyword input field and 3 different tabs below (recent hits (this is the default), category and address), the first two search in a "keyword" mode, only if you switch to the address bar, it'll conduct a distinct address search.
Post reply on HN