this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2023
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Has anyone used or contributed to OpenStreetMap? (coeus.sbs)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by Coeus@coeus.sbs to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I've tried using it over the years but I never liked it because there was no information. So last night I looked at my local city and there is almost no information at all. I spent a few hours last night adding buildings and restaurants and removing incorrect items. It was actually kind of fun and therapeutic and I plan to do more of it tonight. My girlfriend thinks it's dumb and I'm wasting my time because Google maps and Apple maps and Bing maps exists but she just doesn't understand open source.

Edit: Apologies, I just realized this question is not Linux specific.

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[–] twitterfluechtling@lemmy.pathoris.de 1 points 2 years ago

I sometimes use openstreetmap, and it has its strengths and weaknesses. The data is afaik usually collected by GPS trackers and uploaded, therefore usually less accurate than some of the commercial providers using LIDAR etc. to actually measure the roads. Also, streets are missing speed limit information etc. And I don't think they invested as much effort in data density, making the data cost prohibitive to download maps of e.g. multiple countries.

On the other hand, OSM is

  • free. As in freedom, free license, etc. You can take screenshots and use them without being too woried about the license.
  • If you want to integrate it in your website to e.g. allow tracking of items etc., I don't know if the API is rate-limited, but if you wanted, you could actually download the relevant map data and host everything yourself.
  • Hiking trails are often more complete and helpful

Regarding Google, Apple and Bing maps:

AFAIK, Apple and Bing are using mainly TomTom, they don't have their own map data (I think Apple started collecting their own via GPS from navigation apps etc.). I think the only significant companies actually owning gobal map data are Google, HERE Technologies and TomTom.