On Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 1:28 PM, Daniel Tremblay <[email protected]> wrote:
> My point is that OpenStreetMap is useless for "ordinary people" like me. Hmm, there seem to be an awful lot of what I would consider ordinary people using it. > You need to be a savvy user, almost specialist, in order to use it. Or, > other specialists need other people developping a proper interface for us. Nope, not really. All you need to do is surf to the site, and look at the map. There are a number of different programs that I use that make use of the slippy map tiles. RadioMobile, APRSISCE/32, and Xastir are all using the slippy map tiles for map backgrounds. > The OpenCycleMaps project is great and should fulfill some cyclist needs. I > understand however that we cannot ask thoses guys to integrate everything in > their project. They are creating some specialty maps for people interested in cycling. If you want to create maps for kayaking, you'd need to highlight different data obviously. > I doubt that ordinary user will ever take the time to play with Merkaartor > and start developping their own styles. I won't. I consider myself an ordinary user, and I play with Merkaartor. It's unfortunate that you only consider yourself an end consumer of the product, rather than becoming a part of the community, and contributing to the database. The OSM project is not just a map database to be consumed, it is a community based mapping initiative that needs the input from people like both you and me. We add information and detail to the map database, and create a better map for everyone. > This is where, I think, a filtering option on openstreetmap.org would be > usefull for ordinary people like me. That's not going to happen. I think you have the wrong idea of the concept behind OpenStreetMap. OSM does not provide maps. OSM is a database of mapping information. The slippy map seen on the OSM page is just one single rendering or representation of some of the data found in the OSM database. It is a static presentation only. > No Merkaartor knowledge needed. No > xml-type style required. No programming what-so-ever. "Show me the > bicycle=designated on that map! Show me the unpaved road." Those simple > needs. Sounds like you haven't looked at Merkaartor. There's no XML style sheets, no programming either. I don't know how you would tell the computer to show you the bicycle=designated routes without at least clicking on a selector button. That's just about all you need to do in Merkaartor. > I'm talking here about bringing the OpenStreetMap map to a larger public > (end users). > > I am an end user. What you are looking for won't be found at the OSM site, or in the community. You are looking for a graphic representation engine that will allow you to render maps on the fly (which is what Merkaartor does) based on a set of rendering rules. OSM is focused on the data in the database, and leaves the presentation to the end user up to others. I don't know of any site that will render on the fly based on user input, but I'm just an ordinary user, and don't know everything. Anyone know if there's a site that might Daniel's bill? I would be interested in playing with a site that would allow you to select different data layers on the fly. James VE6SRV _______________________________________________ newbies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/newbies
