User:Eric2

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en-N This user has a native understanding of English.
de-3 Dieser Benutzer beherrscht Deutsch auf hohem Niveau.
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Location

Most of the mapping is in Switzerland and Germany, and mostly on foot.

Hardware

Formerly using a Garmin eTrex Vista, now a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx.

Software

Also, I've just seen maxbe's POVray renderings and I think they look amazing. I'd like to try this out sometime myself.

Attributes
Garmin eTrex Legend HCx for template.jpg Eric2 uses a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx and is willing to answer questions on it from OSM users.
Hike Eric2 is a hiker.

I support the existing CC-BY-SA 2.0 license and don't want data or active users to be abandoned.

No longer allowed to contribute

Because I want to stick with the license with which everyone agreed, I am now (as of June 2011) no longer allowed to contribute to OSM. My collected GPS data, and notes, and enthusiasm, is all now on hold until someone sorts this mess out.

Where's the fork project we so desperately need now?

Keep CC-by-SA

There has obviously been a lot of discussion for a long time about the change of the license from CC-by-SA to Odbl. Personally I am against the change, and have therefore declined the opportunity to relicense my edits. I am against the change because too much data will be lost, for no apparent benefit. Among the data to be lost, if this plan goes ahead as currently described would be:

  • All data edited by users who have declined the license change (obviously)
  • All data edited by users who have accepted the license change, but whose data was previously edited by decliners
  • All data edited by users who have left the project and have neither accepted nor declined the switch
  • All data edited by anyone at all, but which is based on CC-by-SA data sources

To me this is a ridiculous throwing-away of valuable contributions, and a shot in the foot by the OSM Foundation. I cannot support this wanton waste of people's time and the alienation and demotivation of committed volunteers, and so I have declined the license switch. I encourage other users to do the same if they agree.

Current statistics indicate that around a third of the data will be lost in the countries I am involved with, which is far too high a price to pay. The only arguments in favour of the switch seem to be based on the boogeyman of the invalidity of the CC-by-SA license for our map data. This however appears to me to be completely unfounded and based on the misunderstanding that the collection, entry, summarisation and editing of this data is not a creative process. That opinion can only be from someone who hasn't contributed to OpenStreetMap.

If you're reading this, please consider the options carefully before deciding whether or not to relicense your work.