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OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

stevecoast.substack.com

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Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#41

Post by openrisk »

deng wrote: post #17

The amount of data OSM has nowadays is a treasure. It's just a shame that there's no well done generic web frontend that would make all this data accessible in a way that could rival Google Maps. The official openstreetmap.org web site just provides bare functionality with an almost unusable search, and otherwise focuses on editing OSM data. Probably the best generic "frontend" for OSM is Organic Maps, which however…

Indeed, discovering all the goodness people have built on top of OSM is not particularly easy, especially for non-technical users. A long list of OSM based services is available in the OSM wiki [0].

A useful collection of links for non-technical users is hidden inside the streetcomplete app [1] (which itself is one of the most remarkable apps built on top of OSM). To find it, open the "my profile" view and then the "bookmark" icon). The list is unlocked gradually using some gamification (as a reward for completing quests). The complete list (for the impatient :-) is available here [2]

[0] https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/List_of_OSM-based_servic...

[1] https://f-droid.org/packages/de.westnordost.streetcomplete/

[2] https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/blob/a09ae2...

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#42

Post by xethos »

dtech wrote: post #35
xethos wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cannot describe [0] my pleasure and satisfaction when, visiting Germany, we found an icecream shop closed. We'd stopped by with the assumption Google Maps would have the correct hours; they did not, and we carried on without icecream. OSM, on the other hand, correctly showed the shop as closed for the day. [0] I can't, but my fiancee used the words "impossibly smug"

I mean, both rely on community contributions for this sort of thing, so it feels weird to be smug about this... It just depends on who decided to put the correct hours in.

"Smug" was mostly tongue in cheek. More than anything, it was a breath of fresh air seeing OSM, a product so heavily reliant on it's community, beating out one of the most well-funded corporations on our planet.

Google has satellite views, they run their own network of vehicles to gather streetview data at a planetary scale, they follow every Android user (with Google Services installed) to know popular locations, new and closed businesses, likely opening hours, travel times, and more. They (at one point) pushed users to update store information, and then (from everything I've heard) charge out the ass for embedding a Google Map view.

I am ecstatic that we have a free-as-in-beer, donation and corporate sponsorship funded, open-for-all map that not only can go blow-for-blow with this absolute behenoth, but in this case actually won.

So while "smug" may be overselling it, "thrilled" would not be

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#43

Post by jcynix »

wcedmisten wrote: post #39

I really enjoy using OSM for my projects! It can be a bit daunting to figure out how to use the data because there are so many different tools in the ecosystem. I wrote this article recently to help anyone looking to get started querying OSM: https://wcedmisten.fyi/post/how-to-query-osm/

Nice intro, thanks!

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#44

Post by tictacttoe »

First, happy customer of OSM and it’s impressive what they’ve built! That said, I’ve noticed their company website field is sparsely populated.

Any recommendations for acquiring the place website URL through an API or ethically scraping it at scale? I’m specifically wondering about options that wouldn’t involve Google Places.

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#45

Post by jcynix »

Ruthalas wrote: post #10

If you appreciate OSM, consider installing the StreetComplete mobile app[0]! It lets you contribute to OSM in a very simple manner, via simple questions like, "Is there a marked crosswalk here?" I'm not affiliated, I just think it's cool. It's very satisfying to complete quests in your local area. [0] https://streetcomplete.app/

> consider installing the StreetComplete mobile app [...]

I'll second that and I'd add the tip to install its companion app StreetMeasure too in order to measure things like the width of a street or the length of other things.

When on holidays or a weekend trip visiting places I often use StreetComplete to add missing data while walking around with my wife. And recently in the South of France I had to answer questions about the width of rather small streets in an old town center where my guesses wheren't very good. Then StreetComplete suggested that I use StreetMeasure and I got much better estimates.

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#46

Post by bartread »

Ruthalas wrote: post #10

If you appreciate OSM, consider installing the StreetComplete mobile app[0]! It lets you contribute to OSM in a very simple manner, via simple questions like, "Is there a marked crosswalk here?" I'm not affiliated, I just think it's cool. It's very satisfying to complete quests in your local area. [0] https://streetcomplete.app/

Sadly does not seem to be available in iOS App Store in the UK or I would love to.

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#47

Post by jcynix »

Adding (or correcting) opening hours for businesses, libraries, shops, etc in OSM is quite tedious sometimes IMHO.

Maybe that could be a useful task for some AI? Pass it a photo of the data and a location and let it generate the needed additions to OSM ...

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#49

Post by m4rtink »

Ruthalas wrote: post #10

If you appreciate OSM, consider installing the StreetComplete mobile app[0]! It lets you contribute to OSM in a very simple manner, via simple questions like, "Is there a marked crosswalk here?" I'm not affiliated, I just think it's cool. It's very satisfying to complete quests in your local area. [0] https://streetcomplete.app/

Can really recommend StreetComplete - really fun to use & using it right now on a day trip to improve a less mapped area. :)

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#50

Post by smusamashah »

Is there a good UI for OpenStreetMap which is as good as Google Maps? I really want to contribute to OSM but the UI is not as simple as Google Maps. I do keep putting things on Google Maps but i have started to feel guilty about it.
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