[nmglug] The benefits of open mapping

[Akkana Peck]

Anthony J. Bentley writes:
> Hi all,
> 
> Here's a subject near to my heart: open source maps (and other big data
> projects).

Mine too! I spend a lot of time fiddling with map data, partly for
my own interest and partly as part of a group compiling trail maps
for the Los Alamos area.

> - Edit OpenStreetMap! https://www.openstreetmap.org/

I second that suggestion! The cool thing about OpenStreetMap is
that it can actually be more accurate than Google and the various
proprietary navigation systems: they all import their initial road
data from the same (buggy) source, but with OSM, locals can fix the
errors. Google does an amazing job of sending their StreetView
people down streets, but they can't match local knowledge and
crowdsourcing for trails and dirt roads.

> Maps.me: offline Android maps
> OSMAnd: offline Android maps (free on F-droid)

I haven't used Maps.me, but OSMAnd is excellent and I use it all
the time, especially for recording my tracks and waypoints while hiking.

Then I upload my tracks to my computer when I get home (as GPX files)
and view them with a Python mapping program I wrote, PyTopo,
http://shallowsky.com/software/topo/
(mentioned since I don't know of any other Linux program that
solves the same problem, displaying tiled maps and track files).

Editing track logs is still a problem, though, and a weak point on
Linux. There's a program called Viking but I've found it too crashy
to be usable, so I've ended up using Google Earth to edit track logs
when I can't just edit the GPX file directly. I wish there was a
better open source track editor for local files, where it's not
something you can just put in OSM and use JOSM or something.

> Mapbox: create hosted maps to embed in your website

A more free alternative is the opensource JS library Leaflet,
http://www.unknownerror.org/opensource/Leaflet/Leaflet/
No registration needed, and you can make maps like
http://shallowsky.com/losalamostrails/alt/osm.html
using a variety of free tile sources.

        ...Akkana