Hi Brian - I see you added UCB codes to some Nairobi roads. What does this code mean? - Craig

Hi Enum, Thanks for working on the map!
I was looking at the marshy area in Uganda at osm.org/#map=15/2.3258/32.7738
You classified it as a string_bog, which is more of a far northern, glacial feature associated with peaty land. We don't see those in Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_bog The area is muddy, poorly drained land which floods in the rainy season and then stays marshy most of the year. No peat. No parallel ridges, no glaciers.
Would it be OK to revert the tag to marsh?
- Craig Allan

Hi Amany_Osama; thank you for being concerned about quality of OSM data.
By your name you're African, probably Luo, so not trying to impose European standards on Africa.
I hope we can reach a happy resolution to your comment.
I am guided by osm.wiki/Highway_Tag_Africa
By that guide, most roads in the desert should be tagged as "unclassified" or above as they are not an "Access route from dwellings to agricultural and forestry areas". The state of the road is not a consideration - only the purpose and use of the route.
Personally I'd like another classification for very bad rural highways. Above tracks but below unclassified.
By wealthy (spoiled) European standards a road doesn't need a surface indication, but here in Africa we have some truly bad roads that are important regional routes, so I do use tracktype to indicate that the surface is horrible. For example the Kenyan B4 from Marigat to Kampi ya Samaki is so badly potholed that 5km/h is a good speed. So tracktype=5
However, I have used tracks in the desert (yes, incorrectly) as I try to find the routes using different sets of photos. In many cases the tracks stop where one set of photo coverage stops. Joining all fragmentary evidence of roads to other roads is not yet possible. I have created similar fragments in the Congo jungles where roads are often hidden under trees. I hope the fragmentary routes will assist others in building a full set of routes as the photos improve.
Ok, that's my position. What do you think?
Craig

Hi Mueschel - thanks for the useful comment. Agreed that the line is there, and the photo is old. The line is certainly positioned close to the 'pending' alignment. Yet I'm reluctant to firmly put things on the map that I can't see or can deduce with high certainty. I'll keep watch for a new set of aerial pics and strip the pending tags at that time. many thanks Craig

Thanks for picking this error up. You are correct. I will delete the tag.

Hi Guido,

The way in which you say things seems to imply that I am stupid, which is wrong in several ways.

I understand and respect that you may be writing in a 2nd or 3rd language so subtleties of tone are sometimes tricky. On OSM we try hard for politeness. It is better for building the organisation. I hope this is a useful comment.

I will review the issues you have identified in a short while. Thank you for bringing them to my attention.

Craig

Guido -
Thank you for taking the time to bring this issue to my attention.
I have made corrections to the Tshuapa river relation.
- Craig Allan

Thank you for your kind support.

That short way is a section of the boundary of the Wenge Bas Health Area, which is defined by a 14 piece relation. It was inserted by a previous user. I have no reference source for the health area so I can't agree to it or dispute it. I would idly observe in passing that river banks are unusual boundaries. Most (not all) surveyed boundaries use the thalweg (deepest part) of a river as boundary.

Thanks for the HNY - you too. It can only get better! I'm cautios about using a key that is not mainstream OSM and that is not officially maintained. It is just misleading to users who think it has some currency. The plan was useful to help me capturing many of the buildings, but it is proving impossible to maintain so I'm deleting. I'll chat with the town management next time I'm in Lamu - post COVID of course - and see if there is some viable addressing scheme we can use that will help the townspeople and the tourists. Lamu is tricky to capture - I tried using GPS but the deep narrow alleys deny my tracker sight of the satellites so results were just trash. I do have high-rez aerial photos, which help, but in the end fieldwork among the donkey droppings is the only way to tell if an alley is passable, or not.

Hello, They are municipal house numbers. They were originally on a plan I got of the town, but they are not generally used, so are meaningless to the general public. I'm (slowly) removing them. If you would like to help to remove the numbers please do so. Note that Lamu has no street names or addresses or any way of identifying houses other than a verbal description like "Two doors uphill from Mna Lalo mosque - before the passage - ask for Ali" - CA

For interest: https://sahara-overland.com/tag/bilma/

Hi geo, the route is designated by the Niger government as a National Route (!!!) and it is clearly the primary (only?) way to connect two huge if sparse regions. For me that indicates a *function* of being an important route even if the form of the road is a sand track and the urban form of Bilma doesn't meet the "City" criterion.
In deciding tags the opinion of the Niger government is very persuasive for me. If it wasn't classified as a National route I'd be with you on secondary status. Can we respect the Niger people and leave it as primary?

Comment: I do prefer the "East_Africa_Tagging_Guidelines" which better reflect African conditions. I find "Highway Tag Africa" to be rooted in wealthy European conditions and the tagging downgrades African routes by over-classifying on their form and diminishing classification on the function of a route.

Ok Colin, Given all the uncertainties and the relative unimportance of getting this rock perfect I reverted the boundary and put the coast a bit above the visible waterline. I'm moving on now. Thanks for your input. Craig

Hello Colin. My line is based on trust of the spatial alignment of aerial photo suppliers, who (recently) have proved to be remarkably good globally at getting pictures in the right position. I checked all four of them first. You trust someone else. How do you want to resolve this? - Craig Allan

Thanks for the interesting comments - if you could contact me on my user page we can chat at length about my approach. I assure you I am going slowly and carefully with the emphasis on maximum accuracy, using the actual treaty documentation. I am not interested in speed.
And don't believe Bing. Or Google. Or OSM. They all used inaccurate sources.

Thank you rorym, for noticing and repairing the errors - the power of crowd-sourcing is demonstrated again. I'm glad you were working in the area - Kenya is badly undermapped.

Perhaps its an Irish thing, but leaping into a discussion with a stranger by calling their work 'junk' is not constructive. It more like a good way to start a flame war or revive the 'troubles' online.
The little test strip is very useful to me in coding up map features in Kenya and Africa in general. As you only code Ireland you probably have no idea how unmapped Africa is and one problem is road hierarchies. What is a mere farm track in Ireland can be a tertiary road in county Lamu, Kenya. Should it be coded by function (Tertiary) or by appearance (Track)?
I will be in the Lamu archipelago next week Saturday. If that teeny tiny motorway isn't actually there I'll erase the feature.

Yes, I see that. Patching in a new piece led to accidentally damaging the relations. I am carefully adjusting the Kenya / Tanzania border and Kenya coast without ever breaking the line - I should have done that here ~~~~

Fixed. The original Anglo-German treaty that set the boundary during the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885 is not to be found online, so I used secondary data from the USA Department of State.