Nadav Har'El wrote:
On Tue, Jul 25, 2006, Micha Feigin wrote about "Re: Israel map site that work with
firefox?":
/me wonders whether it's time to start a www.really-free-map.org.il site :)
Mapping software is easy, the problem is that creating map information is
VERY expensive
Looking at this site, it appears that they believe that they can get this
map information for free, by utilizing data sent in by many volunteers. Is
this doable? I have no idea. The site claims impressive statistics (177
towns, 4593 streets, 6613 km of roads), but I didn't really try it out myself.
If this site's apparent (according to my reading) assumption that a community
of volunteers can map the whole country is valid (e.g., each walking around
his neighborhood with a GPS and mapping it), then I don't see any reason why
a "www.really-free-map.org.il" like was suggested about couldn't work. Like
you admitted, the mapping software and hosting isn't a very big obstacle.
I wonder if there is any precedent in the world for that. After all, there's
nothing specific to Israel in this idea; Are there free maps of parts of
the US, Europe, and so on, done by a community of volunteers?
I found one: http://cal.mapuse.net/index.php offers user contributed
routes for hikers and travellers.
It seems to be just getting started. Only a small selection of routes
are available so far.
There's lots of geographic data available for free today. Most is rather
low resolution. Even the LANDSAT satellite images from 2000 can be
downloaded freely. The service that a web mapping site offers is turning
the map data into a usable, viewable map with zooming, turning layers on
and off, querying layers, downloadable data etc. To do the upkeep and
constantly configure and merge new layers, I think that somebody will
have to have a vested economic interest, even if the base data is
contributed by volunteers.
Oh, and for anyone thinking of undertaking such a project: please, before
you start, contact the "censura" and ask for guidelines on areas which must
not be mapped: I'd hate to see Hizballah choosing its targets from our free
map...
If arutz 2 can user Google Earth to show Bint Jbel, then Hizballah can
surely do the same to find Haifa.
--
Micha Silver
Arava Development Co
+972-8-6592270
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