Debian is a free operating system, but it is a bit more than that as it also provides lots of packages, most of which are precompiled software. There is also lots of software in Debian, that relates to OSM (JOSM, mapnik, osm2pgsql, …), and some software that is not (mod_tile, tilemill, …).

One of my long term goals is for it to be possible to install an OpenStreetMap tileserver on a Debian system with a single command. The user would install a metapackage via the package manager, which then depends on all the components needed (mod_tile, postgresql, apache, …), and then be asked the relevent questions (what data, …) by debconf (the Debian Configuration system).

Unfortunately, this is a long term goal, as several not insignificant things need to happen first. The first probably being getting mod_tile packaged for Debian, as I currently understand, this is blocking on iniparser (which is not in Debian) being used in mod_tile.

In the short term however, there is now some hopefully comprehensive documentation on building a tileserver with Debian up on the Debian wiki. It should not have too many bugs, as I ran through the whole guide twice while writing it. Some bits still need doing, for example, this guide only covers jessie (the current testing release), and it does not cover getting a slippy map (with leaflet, openlayers, …) setup.

For over a year now, since arriving in Southampton to study Computer Science at the University, I have been also working on improving OpenStreetMap. I forget how it I found out about the project, but initialy, I set about mapping in detail my hall of residence at Wessex Lane.

After that, I moved on to improving Highfield Campus, if I remember correctly, the first thing I did was to add all the missing buildings. I also began mapping in detail the residential areas that I frequently walked through when traveling to and from campus.

I also set about adding all the missing building outlines to the city centre, and surrounding areas. Currently, a large part of the middle of Southampton is mapped in some detail. Most of the buildings are present, and some of the buildings have the address information. A good way to look at this is using the ITO World map

Over the summer, I hope to add address information to the most of the buildings that I have added, that are currently missing it. Hopeully I will be able to join up the areas that I am mapping in the centre, with the excellent work going on to the west in Shirley