Welcome to the twelfth OpenStreetMap NextGen development diary.

This week brought some exciting updates and major news!

🔖 You can read my other development diaries here:
osm.org/user/NorthCrab/diary/

⭐ This project is open-source and publicly available:
https://github.com/Zaczero/openstreetmap-ng

🛈 This initiative is not affiliated with the OpenStreetMap Foundation.

In case you missed it…

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Search 2.0 (with video showcase) 🎉

This week, we made significant strides towards our NextGen vision. The new search functionality is nearly complete, and I’ve recorded a short video comparing OSM Ruby and OSM-NG side-by-side.

⬇ Click below to play ⬇

or click here: https://peertube.monicz.dev/w/c7Qwif6S4MpvuBBDu7x8LM

… See full entry

At the moment I’m only doing small edits, or edits using StreetComplete. I got frustrated by some people making bad edits which persuaded me there were other things that I could do rather than editing OSM.

Particularly annoying behaviours for me:-

• Dunning-Kruger edits by people who have been here for a while but don’t edit that often - people who are absolutely sure they are right even when queried (and think the wiki is wrong), especially people whose changeset edits read like they are selling houses
• people deliberately setting data they know is wrong but to make some route planner or map do what they want, even though they have been challenged on this repeatedly in the past
• people adding data like access, surface, or tracktype in bulk to tracks that lack them just to fill in missing data without any evidence (so all tracks in a particular area get set to tracktype=grade2 whether they are actually asphalt or mud)
• people copying from developers plans, rights of way descriptions, or other maps at the expense of reality (I map what’s there on the ground, they “correct” it because they’ve seen it on a plan, my journey planner tries to send me on unbuilt paths, through fences where I don’t have access, or my road bike on a dirt track suitable for a 4x4 off-road vehicle, and repeat over several years).

My main goal with editing OSM is to improve route planning on foot, bicycle, or public transport, hence why I’m keen to get surface, tracktype, smoothness, access, and construction tags correct.

I can not believe it that it has already been 20 days into the challenge and I have mapped over 30 villages so far. For the next five days I will be in Thessaloniki with a group of Wikimedians from the Balkans and I hope I manage to map every day, but if I don’t, I promise I will catch up.

If somebody following this want to catch up and learn or contribute to enriching Wikipedia, Commons and Wikidata from 26 to 30 June, reach out and ill let you know where you can find us.

Today I mapped Perkola and the surroundings. Perkola was partially mapped, so I moved around the map and mapped some other areas too.

“#100villagesin100days #day20”

We have started to export and upload contribute all the GPS Routing Data we have collected from our motorcycle 360* data recorder for [Vietnam Street View project] (https://streetview.vn).

Check our our Trace History upload in here: (osm.org/user/openmap-vn/traces).

The data we contribute will partly support the construction of the navigation process for projects using the open map OSM.

We all know that you should never map for the renderer and you should only map what is on the ground. But I think I’ve found the third sin, changing the ground to match the map. This nine year old way is a service lane with a name, but doesn’t give a source for the name. Doing a survey showed no signs and historic photos show it as without signs. So I contacted the local council, City of Charles Sturt and asked if they could erect signs, which they have.

I don’t feel the least bit guilty. 😊😊😊

Today I mapped Leminot a village with a population of 860, in Korçë.

“#100villagesin100days #day 19”

Walked into town and along seafront down to Lancaster Gardens.

Good news! Heavy goods vehicle and HGV have been accepted into the Oxford English Dictionary as of this month. Now that these are proper British English words, we can finally tag all those truck restrictions we’ve been holding off on.

The Creative Commons Zero (CC0) waiver is, in my opinion, the most free way to release open-source software. Unlike licenses that impose conditions on the use, modification, or distribution of software, CC0 allows me to waive all my rights to limit what users can do with the software. It effectively places the work in the public domain. This absolute waiver ensures that the software can be freely used by anyone, for any purpose, in any way. Here’s why I choose CC0 when releasing open source software and why I cannot – and will not – grant permission to use my CC0 software.

Software freedom

Other licenses impose various requirements on using software, such as:

• Copyleft/viral licensing: Mandates that derivative works also be open-source and follow the same licensing conditions.
• Attribution requirements: Requires giving credit to the original authors in all copies or substantial portions of the software.
• Redistribution conditions: Imposes specific terms on how the software can be redistributed, including the requirement to state changes made to the code.
• Source code disclosure: Requires making the source code available to anyone who receives a copy of the software.
• License compatibility issues: Restrictions that affect the ability to combine the licensed software with other code under different licenses.

In contrast, CC0:

• Imposes no obligations for attribution.
• Requires no disclosure of source code.
• Does not mandate any specific licensing for derivative works.
• Places no restrictions on combining CC0-waivered software with other code.

This complete freedom fosters innovation, as developers can build upon CC0-waiver software without worrying about legal ramifications or compatibility issues with other licenses.

That means:

• Hobbyists can use it.
• Companies that make money can use it.
• People I don’t like can use it.

… See full entry

I started my journey in OSM Mapping contribution in September 2020. I have worked in multiple OSM HOT Tasking projects in ID editor and JOSM. The community has been a blessing for me as it was more engaging and conscious of OSM mapping and having a journey making the world a better place through OSM Mapping.

At the end of December 2023 Open Mapping Hub- Asia Pacific hosted a program call to all active contributors to embark on a journey with AP-Hub of fellowship of active mapping and community engagement with AP-Hub network and OSM community. I passed the exam with joyous remarks. I was selected for Mapping track out of 15 been selected for the Mapping Track of OM Guru Fellowship. There was 3 different track set by AP-Hub, one Mapping track (tasked for mapping), 2nd Validation Track (tasked for validation of OSM Mapping), and 3rd Training track (Tasked for training participants). On first month, we had 100 task mapping in HOT Tasking Manager. It was a rigorous mapping in Philippines, Vanuatu and Micronesia. On 2nd month, we have worked on Everydoor App POI collection. I have roamed around my neighborhood to taking detailed data of the POIs. On the 3rd month March 2024, we worked on Mapillary of 500 images. Then on 4th month April, we worked on QGIS mapping, before and after image of OSM Mapping and 100 mapping tasks in HOT Tasking Manager. On 5th month May 2024, we validated 200 tasks in HOT Tasking Manager.

The entire journey had made me a consistent mapper and having learnt many new applications to contribute to OSM Mapping, I am grateful to AP-hub for the amazing opportunity.

Greetings, fellow mappers! I am thrilled to share my journey as an Open Mapping Guru Validation Fellow. This fellowship, organized by the Open Mapping Hub Asia-Pacific, has been an enriching experience filled with learning, collaboration, and significant contributions to the OpenStreetMap (OSM) community.

My OSM Journey From Beginner to Advanced Mapper

My journey with OpenStreetMap began back in December 2021 during a training organized by the Geomatics Engineering Students’ Association of Nepal (GESAN). The collaborative spirit of OSM and its mission to create free, up-to-date maps for everyone instantly captivated me. Unlike other mapping services, OSM is a community-driven platform that offers unrestricted use, much like Wikipedia. Till then, I’ve started mapping my way around different parts of Nepal and have since expanded my efforts to encompass the global landscape. Over time, I became an active mapper, regularly contributing to the platform. The more I mapped, the more I realized the importance of accurate and up-to-date data, which led me to the Open Mapping Guru Fellowship. Last December, I learned about the Open Mapping Hub AP’s OMGuru Fellowship from a fellow colleague and luckly I got selected for the Validation track. It’s been an incredible journey so far, and I am thrilled to have made a significant and tangible impact on the broader OSM community.

Becoming a Validation Fellow

In early 2024, I enrolled in the Guru Program of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) and learned about the OM Guru Fellowship. Intrigued by the Validation track, I applied and was fortunate to be selected. The Validation track focuses on ensuring the accuracy and reliability of map data, which is crucial for disaster response, humanitarian efforts, and other vital uses. The sense of purpose that comes from knowing my work helps create dependable maps for these causes has been deeply fulfilling.

Fellowship Experience

… See full entry

Today I mapped two villages and their surroundings because the villages were small and partially mapped. The villages mapped today were Frashër and Jaran, one in south Albania and one in North Albania.

“#100villagesin100days #day 18”

The OSM community some time ago adopted the ODbL license, which (roughly speaking) has two major requirements for users of our data:

1. To contribute their own data back to OSM (the “share alike” clause)
2. To include attribution on products built from our data

It’s almost certain that most mappers — especially those contributing regularly — have encountered a map on the web or in printed form based on OSM data that violated the attribution requirement in some way. The attribution text might have been shuffled out of the way, credit for our work given to somebody else, or the attribution was absent completely. By my estimate, around 10% of websites that use OpenStreetMap tiles lack proper attribution. This is in addition to an unknown proportion of maps with similar problems published on physical media (especially info panels installed outdoors), or ones using custom tiles not made by OSM. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that proper attribution is missing on widely-used map products published by large companies with hundreds of thousands to millions of users.

The OSM project celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and one would expect that should be enough time to develop effective mechanisms for addressing license violations. This obviously is not the case. We as a community delegated the right to enforce the license to the OSM Foundation, but enforcement is something this institution has yet to demonstrate. All the OSMF has accomplished in this regard is to publish a “love letter” which individual volunteers are supposed to use, containing language that asks violators to fix the attribution problem. There is no follow-up procedure in place for situations when the violator fails to respond in the desired way. We also have no mechanism that actively looks for violations, relying instead on volunteers to report cases to one of a number of case-tracking lists that mappers created over time.

… See full entry

Today I mapped the village Shtëpëz in Gjirokaster. The location where the village is pointed is full of abandoned, ruined buildings. You can check here.

After mapping all the ruined buildings I moved downhill, closer to the river because it made sense that the village might have moved closer to the water source and indeed I found tens of houses scattered in the hill and closest to the river. I mapped this area, which seems to be the new location of the village.

“#100villagesin100days #day17”

We are a study group from the University of Brasília (UnB) conducting research on OpenStreetMap (OSM.org). Our goal is to improve OpenStreetMap by better understanding the profiles of its users. Through this research, we aim to gather valuable information that will allow us to identify the needs, preferences, and challenges faced by users when using OSM. Participating in the survey will take between 5 to 10 minutes. Your responses will be confidential and anonymous. Please answer all questions sincerely. For more information or if you have any questions, please contact us via email at gustavo.soares@aluno.unb.br. We count on your collaboration to improve this important collaborative mapping tool. Help us translate: https://kutt.it/translaterea

Survey on MS Forms

Survey Backup on Cryptpad

FAQ

Why are you using Microsoft Forms?

We have access to Office365 through an agreement between the university and Microsoft (I don’t really agree with this agreement), so for us, MS Forms was the best solution as it has no response limit and supports multiple translations. Why didn’t we use LimeSurvey? It’s paid. But if you’re not comfortable responding via MS Forms, we also published on Survey Backup on Cryptpad

Who are you?

We are an extension group at the University of Brasília (UnB). During university education in Brazil, we have the opportunity to develop projects that benefit the community. Currently, we consist of 2 students and two professors.

Is there an official project page?

No 😔 We are a small project. However, if it helps, I have published some diaries on OSM discussing ideas on how to improve OSM.org osm.org/user/PlayzinhoAgro/diary

How can I help?

… See full entry

I have been deeply tempted to use this. There have been times when I didn’t even tag the disposal not because it slipped my mind, but because “pitlatrine” is wrong.

From the wiki for toilets:disposal=pitlatrine, “waste falls into a lined or unlined pit”. This is a lie. A pit is an unlined hole in the ground. A pit toilet uses an unlined hole in the ground. A lined hole in the ground is a vault and the difference is important to land managers and, I would argue, the end user.

As to land managers, one example would be the United States Forest Service. If an area has over a certain number of visitors a year, they try to supply a toilet facility. If that number is still few enough, a (unlined) pit toilet is sufficient. Over a certain amount, it needs to be a vault. This is due to the waste leaching into the surrounding soil with an unlined system. With sufficient volume, it’s more likely to cause contamination in the area.

When a pit toilet is full, the land manager digs a new hole, moves over whatever construction they’ve got in place to help you stay above ground while you make your deposit, and cover over the old hole. When a vault toilet is full, someone comes to pump that thing out and it stays just where it was before.

For the end user, well, the stories I could tell you about using a pit toilet. The floor of the one in Little Round Valley sagged as I stepped into it. Volunteers had just finished digging the hole and moving the little building over it at Santa Cruz Guard Station as I arrived. Practically smell free throughout the stay! Most of the rest of the backcountry pit toilets in the area don’t actually have full buildings, just 0-3 privacy walls around a topped hole. When not spacious by not having a complete set of walls, they tend to be exceedingly tight. The building of one near Blue Lakes was so tight, it was hard to stand to pull up my pants without opening the door.

… See full entry

As a proud OSM contributor since the start of 2023, I’ve been busy mapping my way around Jalpaiguri and the North Bengal region, leaving a trail of improved data in my wake. It’s been an incredible journey so far, and I’m thrilled to have made a tangible impact on the OSM community. But, I didn’t stop there.

Last December, I learned about the Open Mapping Hub AP’s OMGuru Fellowship from a fellow OSM India member, and I just had to apply. Long story short, I got accepted, and it’s been quite great ever since.

Through the OMGuru Fellowship, I’ve had the chance to dive deeper into the world of OSM and learn about an array of tools and techniques for contributing to and improving OSM data and sharpen up my skills using JOSM. Specialising in Validation Track, I’ve honed my skills in ensuring the accuracy and quality of data – a crucial aspect of mapping that’s often overlooked. But it’s not just about validating HOT TM tasks; I’ve also acquired the skills to further map my region, add quality data, and even use it for research and analysis (cue the HOT x DataCamp Scholarship).

It’s been an incredible experience, and I’m excited to see where my newfound expertise takes me next. The OMGuru Fellowship has been a game-changer, and I’d like to extend my gratitude to HOT and APHub for the opportunity to have been a part of it, and to Mikko, Dinar and Honey for their guidance (esp. Mikko and Dinar, you guys have helped me out a lot and take on questions which I now realise were REALLY dumb :’D).

I started using OpenStreetMap in 2020 when I realized the amount of surveillance put upon us by Google and other similar services. I wanted to use software which respects my privacy. In the process, I discovered OpenStreetMap - a map which is privacy-respecting, run by the community, and can be used without restrictions, similar to Wikipedia. When I noticed that some points of my interest were not on the map, I started editing and adding things in 2021. Subsequently, I became an active mapper by mapping regularly over many years. Besides using and mapping, I also advocate and promote the use of OpenStreetMap and raise awareness about it.

At the start of 2024, I enrolled in the Guru Program of Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) and got to know about the OMGuru Mapping Fellowship program in March 2024. The tasks ranged from mapping amenities using mobile applications like Every Door to remote mapping using HOT Tasking Manager, which is a sophisticated mapping management tool.

Before the fellowship, I did not have much experience with remote mapping, especially buildings. This program gave me an opportunity to hone my skills in JOSM, adding one more editor to my mapping arsenal. My friend contrapunctus helped me in catching up with JOSM. Another skill I learnt was validating already mapped tasks, which is done to ensure data quality and provide feedback to mappers on their work. My mentor Honey Grace Fombuena was very patient and accessible throughout the fellowship, making my experience smoother.

I am highly grateful to HOT and APHub for providing me this opportunity.

Credits: contrapunctus and sahilister for proofreading.

… See full entry

I thought i would never finish this village. Kafaraj is a big farming village surrounded by greenhouses located in Fier and with a population of around 1120.

“#100villagesin100days #day16”