Whatever is in the OpenStreetMap database will get rendered into a map you'll see on
Rendering and re-rendering the whole planet Earth continuously is expensive and takes a while. The result is cached so that whenever you go to that website you see the map immediately.
2/n
That means:
- data can be in the OpenStreetMap database but not yet rendered on the map
- data can be still on the map but already fixed in the OpenStreetMap database
and it's due to caching and re-rendering that the underlying OpenStreetMap database and the OpenStreetMap map can get of of sync.
For example: vandalism can be fixed in the database but still need some time for re-rendering to update the map.
3/n
But wait! Why don't we first get the OpenStreetMap database through quality control and then re-render the map?
And here is where user expectations and reality are clashing.
is not meant as a user-friendly map or app or anything regular users are supposed to use.
It's simply a demo of what the OpenStreetMap data could produce but not meant for end users.
Turns out that's not what most users expect.
4/n
Most production apps using OpenStreetMap (Komoot, Cycle Travel, Strava, etc.) take snapshots of the OpenStreetMap database and have mechanisms in place to run quality control, fix/update/revert snapshots and run their own modifications before end users will see a beautiful map.
That means most end users will hopefully not see any vandalism except those who treat the OpenStreetMap website as a reasonably usable app.
5/n
And that ends this thread on OpenStreetMap.
In summary
- Underlying OpenStreetMap is a database
- The OpenStreetMap website is a demo only
- To a lot of folks it's not obvious that the OpenStreetMap website is just a demo showcasing what could be accomplished with the data. Even here on Mastodon in our nerd bubble this is not obvious.
- Communication around that could be improved; and communication around vandalism and what it means if you see it on the website's map could be improved.
6/6
