7 ms·

If you want to show up in there, too, contribute data back to open society or simply make your Sunday walks a bit more engaging, then i can highly recommend the

by dubbel 6y ago

If you want to show up in there, too, contribute data back to open society or simply make your Sunday walks a bit more engaging, then i can highly recommend the "street complete" Android app [0]. It allows you to contribute by answering simple questions about your surroundings, like how many stories a building has or if a stairs has ramps for bikes or wheelchairs. And all that with great UX. [0] https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/StreetComplete https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/StreetComplete

ryandrake 6y ago
I used to edit OSM quite a bit. It's an odd community though. Some people can get very possessive about "their" regions. I remember once spending a few hours "unbraiding" the intersections on a few major dual carriageway avenues over 20 city blocks or so, which I understand is best practice[1]. Well a day later or so, someone sent me a message very upset and demanding that I revert the changeset that ruined "their" work. I did, and it kind of turned me off from editing. Like, OK fine I won't try to help anymore, jeez. EDIT: I don't want to dissuade anyone else from trying editing--it's fun. But, beware of the personalities, it can be like editing Wikipedia. 1: https://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/3194/intersecting-divided-roads-braids-or-four-corners https://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/3194/intersecting-d...
- politelemon 6y ago
  Definitely agree about the community, there's all sorts! I've also encountered some very helpful individuals with immense patience. I noticed during a large urban area mapping on HOTOSM, one person was going around teaching everyone how to map tall buildings, he'd track down each commit and comment there with feedback, it was very nicely done in a non aggressive way. I was quite happy to learn. It isn't obvious the first time you do it, for tall buildings you need to map the part of the building that intersects with the earth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAPiGntG6fs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAPiGntG6fs
- dheera 6y ago
  Why did you revert? It would seem to me that they were in the wrong for being possessive, and assuming your efforts were in good faith, perhaps one could take delight in watching them running and squirming in anger. I would have probably just ignored the message and kept making contributions, but I understand the turn-off.
  - tsomctl 6y ago
    Speaking from personal experience, being a passive-aggressive asshole doesn't solve any problems.
    - acct776 6y ago
      But...they weren't. They were just continuing their good work.
    - sedgjh23 6y ago
      Neither does being a doormat.
      - ozim 6y ago
        When it is about randoms on the internet I don't care enough. So I would do the same as parent poster. Standing up for things is mentally expensive so you don't want to stand up for everything in your life, stuff on the internet is not like if someone forced into your living room.
    - dheera 6y ago
      Ignoring assholes, optionally having a laugh at them, and moving on with your life and what you want to do isn't passive-aggressive behavior.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
- andrewmcwatters 6y ago
  It makes me wonder if individuals like these should be limited from contributing, because they force a multitude of others out of the total pool of contributors. Maybe they're doing more damage through their obsessive behavior as compared to a larger group of less enthusiastic members.
  - maxerickson 6y ago
    At the extreme, people who are outright counterproductive or consistently refuse to collaborate are blocked from contributing. There's a public log of it: https://www.openstreetmap.org/user_blocks/ https://www.openstreetmap.org/user_blocks/
    - LeoPanthera 6y ago
      Edit: Comment removed, I'm an idiot, the list is paginated.
      - maxerickson 6y ago
        It's paginated. There's 20+ pages of multi year blocks. (There are many instances of a single person having created multiple blocked accounts though) Mostly it's a lot of effort to be a barely visible vandal, so people just go away.
      - celsoazevedo 6y ago
        > There are literally 20 users on that list It lists 20 per page. The navigation is at the bottom of the page. There's 230 pages, so that's about 4600 banned users.
- jmkb 6y ago
  OSM is like a bunch of volunteers refurbing a city park, all working different schedules, with no manager. Alice starts sanding off rust on one end of a swingset. Then Bob shows up and starting painting the other end that hasn't yet been sanded; consternation ensues. There are a lot of attempts to solve this problem with documentation on exactly how things should be done. The wiki, the stackoverflow-style help site, subreddit, tips in the editor software, mailing lists, slack... There are too many and they often don't agree. The information in some places changes quite rapidly, or in other places goes stale over time. So we're bound to end up with incompatible approaches now and then. I've found it's often (certainly not always!) useful to politely communicate with other mappers. This works both ways -- I've stepped on toes, and I've had toes stepped on. When you're staring at something ugly in OSM, the last person to work on it might have finished 5 minutes ago, or 5 years. But the tools to find out do exist. As the map gets more and more filled in, I expect that documentation aimed at new mappers will need to focus on communication and cooperation as much as direct editing of the map data.
diggan 6y ago
As someone who recently jumped ship from FreedomDroid to WalledGardenOS, is there any similar apps for iOS? There is bunch of suggestions over at https://learnosm.org/en/mobile-mapping/ https://learnosm.org/en/mobile-mapping/ but seemingly nothing as simple as StreetComplete
- Aeolun 6y ago
  Go Map!! Is the best I’ve found for iOS so far.
  - diggan 6y ago
    Thanks for the suggestion! Go Map!! is more of a fully fledged editor though and will be almost impossible for a "normal" user to use without existing knowledge of mapping tools or similar paradigms. What I love about StreetComplete is the almost wizard-like experience that allows people to just pick up the app and start contributing without doing any prior reading or understanding.
    - Aeolun 6y ago
      I mean, it’s not google maps asking you to add the opening hours, but even though I had no experience with any mapping software before it was fairly obvious where the streets and buildings should go :P The recommended tags that have autocomplete stuff are pretty much always good enough. I agree with you that it would be cool to have some piece of software that would just recommend improvements though.
- dheera 6y ago
  It seems from the way you worded that that you actually preferred Android for the freedom aspect (I do as well). Why did you jump ship, if I may ask? (I understand wanting to use new iOS-only apps like Clubhouse, and for that I just have a really old test iPhone that i got second hand that I use just for that purpose only until those apps come out with Android versions.)
  - 6y ago
_ph_ 6y ago
Is there an iOS app available?
- habi 6y ago
  Go Map!! (https://apps.apple.com/ch/app/go-map/id592990211?l=en https://apps.apple.com/ch/app/go-map/id592990211?l=en) is a full fledged editor for OSM on iOS.
- matkoniecz 6y ago
  Sadly no. https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/1892 https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/1892 - "iOS version" "So, the estimation for a MVP could be as little as 2 months for UI and 2 months for the core, so in total 4 months."
Black101 6y ago
As much as I don't like Google, this is the kind of app that Apple would block.
- Cort3z 6y ago
  Why do you think that?
szszrk 6y ago
Found it on F-Droid few days ago and it's amazing, much simpler then actually editing the map while you are unsure what can be done and how. Yet still gives a lot of satisfaction of fixing the map around you. I now use it on walks, as years ago I used to walk with "Ingress" game.

by dubbel 6y ago

ryandrake 6y ago

I used to edit OSM quite a bit. It's an odd community though. Some people can get very possessive about "their" regions. I remember once spending a few hours "unbraiding" the intersections on a few major dual carriageway avenues over 20 city blocks or so, which I understand is best practice[1]. Well a day later or so, someone sent me a message very upset and demanding that I revert the changeset that ruined "their" work. I did, and it kind of turned me off from editing. Like, OK fine I won't try to help anymore, jeez. EDIT: I don't want to dissuade anyone else from trying editing--it's fun. But, beware of the personalities, it can be like editing Wikipedia. 1: https://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/3194/intersecting-divided-roads-braids-or-four-corners https://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/3194/intersecting-d...

politelemon 6y ago
Definitely agree about the community, there's all sorts! I've also encountered some very helpful individuals with immense patience. I noticed during a large urban area mapping on HOTOSM, one person was going around teaching everyone how to map tall buildings, he'd track down each commit and comment there with feedback, it was very nicely done in a non aggressive way. I was quite happy to learn. It isn't obvious the first time you do it, for tall buildings you need to map the part of the building that intersects with the earth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAPiGntG6fs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAPiGntG6fs
dheera 6y ago
Why did you revert? It would seem to me that they were in the wrong for being possessive, and assuming your efforts were in good faith, perhaps one could take delight in watching them running and squirming in anger. I would have probably just ignored the message and kept making contributions, but I understand the turn-off.
- tsomctl 6y ago
  Speaking from personal experience, being a passive-aggressive asshole doesn't solve any problems.
  - acct776 6y ago
    But...they weren't. They were just continuing their good work.
  - sedgjh23 6y ago
    Neither does being a doormat.
    - ozim 6y ago
      When it is about randoms on the internet I don't care enough. So I would do the same as parent poster. Standing up for things is mentally expensive so you don't want to stand up for everything in your life, stuff on the internet is not like if someone forced into your living room.
  - dheera 6y ago
    Ignoring assholes, optionally having a laugh at them, and moving on with your life and what you want to do isn't passive-aggressive behavior.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
andrewmcwatters 6y ago
It makes me wonder if individuals like these should be limited from contributing, because they force a multitude of others out of the total pool of contributors. Maybe they're doing more damage through their obsessive behavior as compared to a larger group of less enthusiastic members.
- maxerickson 6y ago
  At the extreme, people who are outright counterproductive or consistently refuse to collaborate are blocked from contributing. There's a public log of it: https://www.openstreetmap.org/user_blocks/ https://www.openstreetmap.org/user_blocks/
  - LeoPanthera 6y ago
    Edit: Comment removed, I'm an idiot, the list is paginated.
    - maxerickson 6y ago
      It's paginated. There's 20+ pages of multi year blocks. (There are many instances of a single person having created multiple blocked accounts though) Mostly it's a lot of effort to be a barely visible vandal, so people just go away.
    - celsoazevedo 6y ago
      > There are literally 20 users on that list It lists 20 per page. The navigation is at the bottom of the page. There's 230 pages, so that's about 4600 banned users.
jmkb 6y ago
OSM is like a bunch of volunteers refurbing a city park, all working different schedules, with no manager. Alice starts sanding off rust on one end of a swingset. Then Bob shows up and starting painting the other end that hasn't yet been sanded; consternation ensues. There are a lot of attempts to solve this problem with documentation on exactly how things should be done. The wiki, the stackoverflow-style help site, subreddit, tips in the editor software, mailing lists, slack... There are too many and they often don't agree. The information in some places changes quite rapidly, or in other places goes stale over time. So we're bound to end up with incompatible approaches now and then. I've found it's often (certainly not always!) useful to politely communicate with other mappers. This works both ways -- I've stepped on toes, and I've had toes stepped on. When you're staring at something ugly in OSM, the last person to work on it might have finished 5 minutes ago, or 5 years. But the tools to find out do exist. As the map gets more and more filled in, I expect that documentation aimed at new mappers will need to focus on communication and cooperation as much as direct editing of the map data.

diggan 6y ago

As someone who recently jumped ship from FreedomDroid to WalledGardenOS, is there any similar apps for iOS? There is bunch of suggestions over at https://learnosm.org/en/mobile-mapping/ https://learnosm.org/en/mobile-mapping/ but seemingly nothing as simple as StreetComplete

Aeolun 6y ago
Go Map!! Is the best I’ve found for iOS so far.
- diggan 6y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion! Go Map!! is more of a fully fledged editor though and will be almost impossible for a "normal" user to use without existing knowledge of mapping tools or similar paradigms. What I love about StreetComplete is the almost wizard-like experience that allows people to just pick up the app and start contributing without doing any prior reading or understanding.
  - Aeolun 6y ago
    I mean, it’s not google maps asking you to add the opening hours, but even though I had no experience with any mapping software before it was fairly obvious where the streets and buildings should go :P The recommended tags that have autocomplete stuff are pretty much always good enough. I agree with you that it would be cool to have some piece of software that would just recommend improvements though.
dheera 6y ago
It seems from the way you worded that that you actually preferred Android for the freedom aspect (I do as well). Why did you jump ship, if I may ask? (I understand wanting to use new iOS-only apps like Clubhouse, and for that I just have a really old test iPhone that i got second hand that I use just for that purpose only until those apps come out with Android versions.)
- 6y ago

_ph_ 6y ago

Is there an iOS app available?

habi 6y ago
Go Map!! (https://apps.apple.com/ch/app/go-map/id592990211?l=en https://apps.apple.com/ch/app/go-map/id592990211?l=en) is a full fledged editor for OSM on iOS.
matkoniecz 6y ago
Sadly no. https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/1892 https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/1892 - "iOS version" "So, the estimation for a MVP could be as little as 2 months for UI and 2 months for the core, so in total 4 months."

Black101 6y ago

As much as I don't like Google, this is the kind of app that Apple would block.

Cort3z 6y ago
Why do you think that?

szszrk 6y ago

Found it on F-Droid few days ago and it's amazing, much simpler then actually editing the map while you are unsure what can be done and how. Yet still gives a lot of satisfaction of fixing the map around you. I now use it on walks, as years ago I used to walk with "Ingress" game.