OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap NextGen Development Diary #24 — Public Launch
Diposkan oleh NorthCrab pada 11 Julai 2025 dalam EnglishThe twenty-fourth development diary marks the most significant milestone in OpenStreetMap-NG’s journey to date: the launch of our public test instance. After months of intensive development, we’re finally excited to show it all off! This isn’t just a technical achievement—it’s a pivotal moment in our mission to revolutionize open-source mapping.
🔖 You can read other development diaries here:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/NorthCrab/diary/
⭐ This project is open-source — join us today:
https://github.com/openstreetmap-ng/openstreetmap-ng
🛈 This initiative is not affiliated with the OpenStreetMap Foundation.
Public Test Instance Launch 🚀
OpenStreetMap-NG is now live for public testing at osm.ng. This milestone represents months of intensive development, optimization, and preparation to create a stable testing environment for the community. Every mapper, developer, and OpenStreetMap enthusiast can now experience what we’ve been envisioning as the next generation of mapping platforms.
The test environment runs completely independently from the main OpenStreetMap infrastructure. It features the complete OpenStreetMap dataset while providing a safe playground for experimentation and feedback. You can explore all the functionality without worrying about affecting live data—perfect for giving the platform a thorough evaluation.
Liftoff! We have a liftoff, 32 minutes past the hour. Liftoff on Apollo 11.
CloudFerro Infrastructure Partnership
We’re grateful to CloudFerro for generously sponsoring the server infrastructure that powers osm.ng. We deliberately chose a medium-specification server (30GB RAM, 4 CPU cores; they offered more) for a specific reason: to make performance bottlenecks and optimization opportunities clearly visible during testing. This strategic approach ensures that subtle bugs or inefficiencies don’t slip through due to overpowered hardware masking underlying issues. By testing on realistic hardware constraints, we can identify and resolve problems before they affect users more broadly.
Scalability Improvements
OpenStreetMap-NG now demonstrates exceptional scalability across diverse hardware configurations, thanks to extensive optimization work enabled by our test server access. The platform intelligently adapts to whatever resources are available, maximizing performance across different setups.
Memory scaling now works beautifully from 20GB RAM (the realistic minimum) all the way up to 128GB+ configurations. Processing adapts seamlessly from 4 CPU threads to 32+ core systems. Storage optimization handles everything from high-latency SSDs to directly-connected NVMe drives, dealing effectively with various bandwidth and latency conditions. This means OpenStreetMap-NG is accessible to organizations with modest infrastructure while still taking full advantage of powerful hardware when it’s available.
Dataset Loading Optimizations
Developer experience received a substantial boost through dramatic improvements in dataset loading performance. Initial local database pre-loading time dropped from 20 minutes to just 4 minutes—a remarkable 5x improvement while handling the same data volume! These kinds of optimizations remove friction from the development workflow, letting contributors iterate faster and experiment more freely with OpenStreetMap-NG’s hackable architecture.
Performance Engineering
The introduction of the speedup Python C extension revolutionizes performance-critical operations by implementing them in optimized C code. This delivers substantial performance improvements across multiple system components.
We’ve also significantly optimized memory usage through several architectural changes. XML parsing now uses 75% less RAM thanks to string interning and SAX-style parsing, eliminating memory pressure during replication processing on our test server. Database objects were completely reimagined by removing SQLAlchemy abstraction layers in favor of pure Python dictionaries with TypedDict typing safety. This makes the entire platform more efficient across all operations.
Features and Stability
The public test launch includes several user-facing improvements that really enhance the experience. Dark mode support provides comfortable viewing in low-light conditions, while the new language selector improves accessibility for non-logged-in users across different locales. We’ve also implemented comprehensive stability improvements addressing various bugs identified during development.
Before going public, we ran a two-week intensive testing phase with our Discord community members. This helped ensure stability and catch critical issues before the public announcement—having that extra set of eyes made all the difference.
What Caused the 6-Month Delay?
We know many of you have been waiting patiently, and we want to be transparent about why this took six months. The delay reflects the genuine complexity of optimizing OpenStreetMap-NG for production-scale deployment. Scalability turned out to be the primary technical challenge, requiring careful architectural decisions to balance performance with resource constraints.
Memory management proved particularly tricky. We needed to find optimal allocation strategies for large datasets while maximizing efficiency on limited hardware. Each architectural change required extensive validation with full datasets, and sometimes the smallest modifications could produce week-long delays. The iterative optimization process was time-consuming, but it resulted in a fundamentally more robust platform that we’re confident can handle real-world deployment scenarios.
Earn Rewards 🎁
We’re launching something new: a bounty program to recognize valuable community contributions during the testing phase. We’re offering $5 for quality feedback that leads to improvements, limited to the first 100 qualifying testers. The top 10 most valuable contributions will get an additional $5 bonus, bringing their total reward to $10.
We’re especially interested in reproducible bug reports, performance issues, visual glitches, accessibility problems, and security concerns. But general usability feedback, feature improvement suggestions, and API compatibility issues for developers are also incredibly valuable.
Learn more about the bounty program.
The Future
With the test instance fully operational, OpenStreetMap-NG enters an exciting new phase focused on community feedback and refinement. The hackable system design philosophy we’ve built in enables rapid experimentation and component swapping, encouraging innovative approaches to mapping platform challenges.
We’re committed to integrating community feedback—incorporating tester suggestions and bug reports into ongoing development. We’ll also be monitoring performance closely, analyzing usage patterns to identify new optimization opportunities. This testing phase is more than just technical validation—it’s an opportunity for the OpenStreetMap community to help shape the platform’s future direction through hands-on experience and constructive feedback.
🌠 Sponsors
We are incredibly fortunate to have individuals and organizations who support OpenStreetMap-NG through their generous contributions. Their commitment powers our mission to revolutionize open-source mapping and helps maintain the project’s independence.
Public supporters on Liberapay and GitHub Sponsors. You can click the image below to open it in a new tab. From there, you can click on the avatars to see their profiles.
Discussion
Ulasan Mateusz Konieczny terhadap 11 Julai 2025 pada 14:18
https://www.openstreetmap.ng/about and banner at the main page are affected at least
this text is misleading when show on page of project not affiliated with the OpenStreetMap Foundation, not sponsored by Fastly and so on
Also, use of this domain and logo and asking about passwords to osm.org is fishy at best from phishing and trademark perspective
warning: I am not a lawyer
Ulasan NorthCrab terhadap 11 Julai 2025 pada 16:28
The project is currently based on somewhat outdated translations. There’s a plan to update them at some point in the future, but that’s a low priority issue. I don’t think it matters much for testing purposes.
Please note the big splash screen the first time you visit the test site. You explicitly need to acknowledge that you are on an independent test site. Otherwise, it will not let you proceed.
The testing guide also states:
If you are going to participate in the testing, please read through the testing guide carefully. It answers many of the questions you may have. I have put a lot of effort into making it easy to digest and understand.
Ulasan gileri terhadap 12 Julai 2025 pada 12:11
Nice progress, thanks NorthCrab!
IMO don’t pay too much attention to Mateusz’s feedback, I’ve received similar messages from him that were not in good faith.
Ulasan sus242424 terhadap 13 Julai 2025 pada 17:01
Great progress! I see that a lot of work has been done, but still a lot to do.
Mateusz’s first comment is a paradigmatic example of many FOSS projects. Initially, they are open in the true sense of the word - open-minded with a hands-on mentality - but over time, a stubborn siege mentality establishes itself. I think FOSS projects only survive when people bring new ideas and just start building things without being afraid of potential resistance. Well done, NorthCrab, and keep going!!
Ulasan MxxCon terhadap 14 Julai 2025 pada 16:05
This project still continues to use COPYRIGHTED and TRADEMARKED “OpenStreetMap” name. You have not been given permission to use that branding for this project. It is extremely misleading to call this “OpenStreetMap NG” when this is your personal toy, not an official OSM “next generation” project.
Just because OSM data is free to use, doesn’t mean “OpenStreetMap” name is.
You should rename this project.
Ulasan NorthCrab terhadap 14 Julai 2025 pada 19:44
Everyone, thank you for all the feedback and reports. I have a great note-taking system, so nothing is ever lost. I continue working on the most critical issues first, and I keep posting in the changelog channel on the OSM-NG Developers Discord. I’ll then pack everything together into a new diary #25 in 1-2 weeks. I’m really happy with the amount of engagement!
MxxCon, you say that so confidently, and yet it’s clear you haven’t read the trademark policy. I have read it several times.
Ulasan MxxCon terhadap 14 Julai 2025 pada 20:07
Oh, but I have. Yet you must have skipped sections 1.3.2, 2.1, 2.3, 3.3, 4.1, 4.5, 5.1, 5.3.
Ulasan Matija Nalis terhadap 15 Julai 2025 pada 00:16
@MxxCon, you seem to have mixed up something. “OpenStreetMap” name is not COPYRIGHTED as you claim (nor are such names generally copyrightable AFAIK).
They are TRADEMARKED, however (which you also mention).
While IANAL, section 3.3.6. of OSM trademark policy seems to allow use of OSM marks for software projects working on OSM data (provided they provide appropriate clarifications / disclaimers), but the other parts (like domain name in 4.1) might indeed be problematic unless the domain owner has obtained required permission.
In any case, section 6.1 describes how alleged unauthorised trademark use should be reported so it can be sorted out properly (hint: it is not by posting angry and misleading comments on a diary post).
That being said, @NorthCrab, you should really improve on making sure website is not misleading!
https://www.openstreetmap.ng/test-site says only “This is a public testing site for OpenStreetMap-NG, an independent open-source project” where that “independent” is very ambiguous - it is not at all clear that it is not affiliated with OpenStreetMap, to the contrary (afterall, the “original” OSM is also “independent open-source project”!).
I would suggest changing that text to “This is a public testing site for OpenStreetMap-NG, an independent open-source project which is not affiliated with (nor endorsed by) OpenStreetMap Foundation”
Also, that https://www.openstreetmap.ng/about is not just misleading, it is straight out fraudulent misrepresentation, with legal liability. That site is certainly not “formally operated by OSMF” as it currently claims. Fixing that ASAP is not some optional “low priority” task; fixing such incorrect legal claims is absolute emergency. I’d suggest replacing whole page with “Lorem Ipsum” immediately until you have time to properly write it.
(and I say that with best intentions toward the project. Hopefully clear and actionable easy suggestions are a proof of that)
Ulasan Mateusz Konieczny terhadap 15 Julai 2025 pada 03:57
“independent test site” is not making it clear at all that it is not operated by OpenStreetMap Foundation and that your test site has multiple claims that should be ignored as false
also, I suspect that if I would make such splash screen and on subsequent page I would have site with problematic content that in “about” page claims to be maintained by NorthCrab you would be likely unhappy
Similarly, if I would run copy of site of embassy of France behind such splash screen it would be likely not really work as defense
compare with Internet Archive Wayback Machine that has a collapsible header continuously visible on top of each archived site
well, osm.org is also “an independent open-source project” so it does not provide any clear distinction
Ulasan Mateusz Konieczny terhadap 15 Julai 2025 pada 03:57
now we have also https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/use-of-openstreetmap-ng-domain/132716
Ulasan Mateusz Konieczny terhadap 15 Julai 2025 pada 04:02
And note that Internet Archive is right now busy losing copyright legal case related to Covid Library fiasco.
And while Wayback Machine provides excellent service and is extremely useful it is on edge of what current copyright law permits.
They are hardly gold standard as far as copyright/trademark compliance goes, and still make situation much more cleaner.
Ulasan rayleigh1 terhadap 15 Julai 2025 pada 10:46
I have to say, I am very impressed with how many of the features stuck for years on osm-website’s issue tracker you’ve managed to implement. The website also feels way snappier and has vector tiles (!), which is still not the case for osm.org. Congrats on the technical achievements, I feel like even if this does not become the go-to stack for osm.org, it has already pushed osm.org maintainers to try to bring the website closer to this decade (and not early 2000s :)).
Ulasan AngocA terhadap 15 Julai 2025 pada 15:13
This could be the opportunity to change that old and now ugly logo of openstreetmap. Something that represent things in 2025, not something that has not been changed since 2000’s.
Osm logo depicts things that few people use in 2025: a printed map and a magnifying glass. People in 2025 use the cell phone for both things.
We need a logo, simpler, no blurs, less colors, no shadows, and something that includes the name of the project.
Ulasan MxxCon terhadap 15 Julai 2025 pada 15:50
If you want to change OSM logo, this diary post is not the best place to petition for that.
Ulasan AngocA terhadap 16 Julai 2025 pada 01:35
Don’t worry, I’ve already started a thread in the community: https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/openstreetmap-logo-seems-obsolete/125420
The issue is that the current OSM logo poses a copyright problem for osm-ng. Therefore, launching a call for a new logo could help resolve this issue.