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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Coeus@coeus.sbs to c/linux@lemmy.ml

I've tried using it over the years but I never liked it because there was no information. So last night I looked at my local city and there is almost no information at all. I spent a few hours last night adding buildings and restaurants and removing incorrect items. It was actually kind of fun and therapeutic and I plan to do more of it tonight. My girlfriend thinks it's dumb and I'm wasting my time because Google maps and Apple maps and Bing maps exists but she just doesn't understand open source.

Edit: Apologies, I just realized this question is not Linux specific.

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[-] FinancedPizza@lemming.quest 5 points 1 year ago

Yeah I have made many changes in my area. I also find it kinda therapeutic as well.

[-] EugeneNine@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

I use it a lot. I'm finding things like hiking trails are more up to date than Google maps

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[-] SymbolicLink@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Used: yes

Contributed: no

I know I know, I am sorry. Just started using it a few months ago (through Organic Maps on iOS), and honestly have started using it more than Google/Apple Maps. This is a good reminder for me so get off my ass and start contributing.

[-] xapr@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 1 year ago

I've thought about trying it before, but this thread is both inspiring me and giving me some info to get started (apps, etc). Is there a handy guide somewhere for a beginner that would explain some of the terminology, some of the most needed info, etc?

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[-] Squibbles@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I've submitted a few corrections before. Garmin or Strava used it for mapping runs and I quite liked it because in my area their maps of trails were actually much more complete and up to date than Google maps. For example in one nature park the current trails were shown on osm but Google showed a completely different set. I later came across a really old and faded sign in the park that showed trails that lined up with what Google showed despite them not existing any more. The new trails WERE shown on a pdf the city provided on their website but I guess they must have never been submitted to Google or something. Fortunately there must have been some dedicated OSM users in my area who were inputting updates.

[-] jman6495@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

I've been contributing a lot via StreetComplete, what is also great is that you can use OSM offline!

[-] digdilem@feddit.uk 4 points 1 year ago

Yes, I've populated most of my local area, and every time I go for a walk or bike ride, I add as much detail that I can. I also find it very enjoyable and it's pretty cool to see features I added show up in all kinds of mapping services that use its data

Osm now has the clearest and most detailed maps for walking that I know, and I use them in preference to the UK's ordnance survey maps, which don't scale so well on electronic devices.

[-] pgetsos@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

I contribute as much as I can, mostly through StreetComplete. I see it as a hobby when it isn't too hot/cold outside, to take a walk around my area and map houses and addresses. I find it super important

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[-] Maiznieks@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Me and it was so cool. My (approx 25k inhabitant) town had like 5 roads and one of them was completely wrong. I rode ~20km every few days on a bicycle trough all streets, uploaded gpx and drew roads. I think it was around 200+km to draw all streets, but the end result was so satisfying.

I have updated plenty of poi data since then, i love the idea that data is open and can be used by anyone. Yes, there are better and more feature complete solutions, but this one is about community. Btw osm had more frequent updates and when there were major road construction in our capital city, all navigatiom systems but osm were useless, it updated on a daily basis and was always accurate.

The power of community, we can only make it better.

[-] KellyThomas@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I used OSM tiles when creating webmaps sometimes and they can be great.

That said it's coverage is inconsistent. This area around a highschool has really high detail footprints for the houses so I think it might have been part of their IT class at some point.

https://imgur.com/a/8PA8xBS

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[-] AmyCupcake@lib.lgbt 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Thank you very much for your efforts, there’s a lot of inertia about mapping places with low amounts of detail. Remember to reach out to your local OSM communities for advice, and the OSM wiki.

[-] kenoh@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

I am a mod (and main poster) at c/castles and include an OSM link with all my posts.

[-] enoqe@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My company actually partially sponsors an OpenStreetMap mapathon through our volunteering initiative. I’ve probably put in around 3 or 4 hours this year contributing to maps, though specifically developing countries with incomplete mapping and recent natural disasters.

Edit: I am US based.

[-] TheNumberOfGeese@feddit.uk 4 points 1 year ago

It brings me a lot of joy to contribute to OSM. I haven't written anything other than the occasional script for years, so it feels good to help the community in ways like this instead.

I've sunk so many hours into it. Either "armchair mapping" with OSM and the imagery overlays, or (more fun) wandering with the android Street Complete app to fill in gaps when I'm out and about.

[-] tables@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

I'll sometimes contribute when I'm travelling to more rural areas which are less likely to be well mapped. The experience in my country has been that cities are very well mapped on OpenStreetMaps with a lot of detail, often having more up to date information than Google Maps. Less populated areas usually don't have as much detail, but the basics, like roads and buildings are usually well mapped.

I've also noticed OpenStreetMaps is awesome for trails and smaller roads used by hikers, usually being much more useful than Google Maps.

[-] Elbrond@feddit.nl 3 points 1 year ago

I enjoy editing my hometown and have been doing it for about twelve years. But my town is already pretty complete, so I check in every six months or so to change minor details like shops or adding a new bench in the park. In total I'm not even at 200 edits, but I always enjoy seeing those edits back in major tools that use OSM.

[-] caferetro@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

I have, using OSMAnd on iOS. Here in Puerto Rico there are quite a good amount of map details already.

[-] kbity@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

OsmAnd actually works pretty well in my experience, at least in the UK. It's not always up to date or fully-detailed but it's far from useless and I appreciate that. It's my primary map program on my phone.

[-] isilv3rbull3t@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Contributed a very little. Been using it ina Top metro city for .ore than a year. Heavily reliable.

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this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2023
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