On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 8:48 PM, John Firebaugh <john.fireba...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 4:17 PM, Tom Hughes <t...@compton.nu> wrote: >> Exporting raw data was never the primary purpose of the export tab - it was >> really added to address the constant request for the ability to export >> images of an area. >> >> The data export things was something I threw in because I could, and for >> most purposes people should be looking elsewhere for raw data. > > Should they? > > The general consensus at the BoF was that some (many?) people do first > look to the export tab for raw data, and leave confused by its > interface and limitations. It's unfortunate that for a project whose > guiding principle is open data, actually getting that data proves to > be a challenge for those not familiar with the various OSM satellite > sites. And so the thought was that the export tab is due for a > redesign and a rethink, and it should guide people interested in > exports at a particular size to the appropriate place, if not offer a > download directly. The challenge, of course, is to characterize the > various use cases, determine what the appropriate source and format is > for each case, and see how and if it is possible to build something > that can satisfy many different needs in a way that's not so complex > that it deters just as many interested people as the current interface > does.
I'm really sorry to have missed that session at the conference, but I'm happy to see that it gets carried forward to the list quickly. I agree with John that there is a need for a clear path for folks to the various data consumption options. I believe the Export tab should really be the Data tab, with options for * immediately downloading the current map extent as XML, full history XML, PBF and whatever other formats people want, * viewing the data as an overlay (now in the edit menu) * and a link to more data consumption options which could be something like https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dASGp5U0jRNZ3Kzb-LtzeOtUACqlLVh9GZdiKTftTOQ/edit (feel free to edit). The latter should not be a separate page but rather a div popup or something like that. -- martijn van exel http://oegeo.wordpress.com _______________________________________________ dev mailing list dev@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/dev
