OpenStreetMap
I have noticed that there are a lot of people joining OSM just now. Larger numbers are always a good thing, but I do wonder at this time whether the anarchistic model will suffice in the future.
Not only could there be vandalism like Wikipedia's, but the "tag how you wish" approach could prove to be confusing and wasteful.
I'd say that the next 6 months will be absolutely critical for OSM. The work ongoing in changesets and suchlike for the 0.6 API is a step in the right direction.
I welcome opinions on the future direction of OSM.
Discussion
Comment from NicRoets on 7 June 2008 at 00:26
I'm with you !
The "tag how you wish" approach has already caused a lot of waste. Most of it is unintentional, e.g. spelling errors.
I have sympathy with people not wanting to wait for tags to be approved by the voting process. But I do find it annoying (if not selfish) that someone can start using a tag and not document it on the wiki.
And perhaps that it the answer : Disallow tags not documented on the wiki e.g. through code on the wiki server that generates meta data and code in each of the editors that download the meta data and enforces it. Only when a dispute arises on the wiki do we vote and lock that page.
Comment from randomjunk on 7 June 2008 at 01:24
yeah, yeah, whatever.
And Nic, spelling errors are irrelevant to the discussion of anarchy (unless you wish to predefine everything anyone could ever want to tag).
Seriously, if you think the current tag system is broken in some way then think up something that would work better. The two key features you need are that it must work, and it must be better.
Comment from jerjozwik on 7 June 2008 at 04:07
i kind of like the current tag approach were you can type the first letter and the blue pop up opens in potlatch listing come tag/values. maybe something could be work in around that?
my larger annoyance is duplicate ways and messy ways.
but, better then nothing i suppose!
Comment from SuborbitalPigeon on 7 June 2008 at 18:16
Anything would be better than the current situation.
I posted on the mailing list about a tag tab here, but was told that ideas aren't good enough.
Comment from Roger Browne on 7 June 2008 at 19:04
OpenStreetMap works because, ON AVERAGE, a typical user is more likely to enhance the data than to damage it. The anarchy and loose structure are the price we pay for making it easy for anyone to contribute in their own way. That approach maximizes contributors, each of whom is more likely to enhance the data than to damage it.
The time will come, WAY in the future, when the data is so good that there's not much to contribute. Then, and only then, will the process need to be slowed down (by verification, notifications, controls, voting or whatever) to counteract damage to the data.
But that time is far off. For now, the lively bazaar of good and bad contributions, with the good ones tending to persist because of filtering by the crowds, is great for the project!
Comment from Richard on 7 June 2008 at 23:01
Roger - that's one of the best expressions of the "OSM philosophy" that I've ever seen.
Comment from SuborbitalPigeon on 7 June 2008 at 23:22
I can't help but draw parallels between OSM and Wikipedia. We all know how Wikipedia is now, but I'm sure that it started with the anarchy that OSM has just now.
Comment from photohiker on 8 June 2008 at 00:58
Like most voluntary projects I have been involved with, the volunteers are relatively happy while there is plenty of work to do, and not much impeding them from contributing. As soon as the link between almost immediate results of the users input (osmarender + weekly mapnik) is lost in some approval or voting process that ties edits up, OSM will lose a substantial amount of contributors. Maybe that would be appropriate when most of the work is done...
On the other hand, it would be neat if there were more direction. For instance, I have come across some walking trails that have multiple names, but there is no clear way of tagging them that I can find that will put those names into mapnik.
Comment from NicRoets on 8 June 2008 at 01:27
OSM was smart because they discouraged abbreviations in the 'name' tag.
But we have all sorts of abbreviations and acronyms in the 'key's : 'tiger', 'AND' and 'sagns' are just 3 (4 if you count 'sangs'). Replacing them with strings like 'Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing' is impractical.
As OSM grows into an organization with tens of mailing lists, a central registry of 'key's may not be a bad idea, even if anyone can change it.
B.t.w. I'm OK with anarchy, it's chaos or entropy that I fear.