OpenStreetMap
I've read a little bit about it and it still sounds too good to be true, but it appears it's okay to use Bing maps as a source to do street naming in OSM. So I did a little bit of that last night, you know, the part of the night when you're already tired and should really be in bed but your brain just needs its OSM fix?
Results should be soon visible at osm.org/go/xxSuRYvv
Naming streets brings up interesting questions about splitting/joining ways, as the same street name might be used for a way, part of which is a secondary road, part of which is a tertiary road - certainly a lot of that going on in Athens, Greece. Due to local knowledge (and the primitiveness of OSM data) that's where I started my little naming stint.
I still find it surprising how easy it is to contribute to OSM. I remember that it looked like an insurmountable challenge not long ago... I believe we need more short HOWTO videos like http://vimeo.com/24992100 and http://vimeo.com/24984085
The stuff under osm.wiki/Video_tutorials is great but a lot of practical advice relates to JOSM which is yet another tool to learn before one can contribute. I like the tool-free simplicity of Potlatch. I think P2 and a mobile app (Android/iPhone/etc) are the way forward to engage more users. Focusing on power tools for the few power users is a mistake and leads to bitterness and burnout - OSM will benefit from harvesting the 5 days of enthusiasm of the crowd.
In any case, I'm hooked and my biggest challenge now is finding a model to capture data and then upload it to OSM while travelling light (i.e. with no laptop).
Discussion
Ulasan Zverik terhadap 28 Jun 2011 pada 08:14
Could you plz link to the source of your assumption about using Bing maps (which are NAVTEQ copyrighted) for street names?
Ulasan TomH terhadap 28 Jun 2011 pada 08:34
No it is absolutely not OK to use Bing Maps as a source of street names.
You can use the Bing Aerial Imagery for tracing, but you cannot use the Bing maps.
Ulasan Alex-P terhadap 28 Jun 2011 pada 09:24
I see that my assumption was incorrect. Glad I posted this diary entry then, before I could pollute OSM.
I'll keep street names I can attribute to local knowledge and stop using Bing as a source of street names.
I read a lot about Bing and OSM last night, but I suppose the part that confused me was: "in sum the TOU says: you are only granted rights to use the aerial imagery, you must use the imagery as presented in the API, you cannot modify or edit the imagery, including the copyright and credit notices; you cannot create permanent, offline copies of the imagery, all of your updates to OSM arising out of the application must be shared with OSM, and the OSM map editor must be free to end users" from http://opengeodata.org/microsoft-imagery-details as "it's okay to use anything on the Bing maps", which was obviously a newbie mistake.
Didn't realise "imagery" and "the map" were two completely separate legal entities.
Thanks for catching this!
Ulasan Alex-P terhadap 28 Jun 2011 pada 09:38
Can someone who fully understands the licensing model please update osm.wiki/Bing with a section explaining with simple words and examples what OSM contributors *can* and *can not* do with Bing data?
Even if contributors go through osm.wiki/File:Bing_license.pdf I'm not sure it's crystal-clear what the do's and dont's are.
Please remember that for newbies "tracing" and "aerial imagery" may be ambiguous terms, unlike OSM veterans who might have been using this terminology for a while.
Ulasan 42429 terhadap 28 Jun 2011 pada 09:46
Maps: don't use them
Aerial images: use them only as backgrund for your own drawing (=tracing)
Streetview: don't use them, just use your own memory
Ulasan Richard terhadap 28 Jun 2011 pada 11:01
Wiki page updated.