Hi Andy and DWG:
I did not take composing this response lightly. I
have always mapped assuming good faith and intelligence
with co-mappers, both which have seemingly diminished.
If I got a message about a changeset, I first
checked the author’s edit count (i.e. experience), and
whether they were locally mapping. You can visit my
message list to see that I went well out of my way to
address legitimate queries.
recent examples:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/changeset/105906567
https://www.openstreetmap.org/changeset/116631815
If the author has minimal edits and no local
presence, I will not encourage trolls. I especially
detest, as probably many others also do, bird-doggers
who have zero interest in the local mapping, and whose
total focus is on policing, often using external tools.
I do not know of any individuals who enjoy being
watched over their shoulders.
A perfect example of this is:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/changeset/118228668
The author had unbelievably zero edits and brazenly
stated, “I’m sure that you’ve been asked several
times”, when in actuality, I never had been.
Another mapper joined the recent fray from nowhere.
It looks like his modus operandi is already recognised:
https://forum.openstreetmap.org/viewtopic.php?pid=824528
And another with zero edits:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/changeset/116970678
Andy, as for the “asked more than once previously”,
whom are you referring to? I only saw that one message
a few months ago. You insinuated that there was a huge
hue and cry. A bunch of BS on some external blog does
not cut it.
As for the comments, the two machines I
predominately use for OSM do not have keyboards, so
even writing a few words is a chore. Additionally, it
impossible to edit those comments, even when they are
misplaced and incorrect. Thus, I cannot imagine those
comments having any real value except for the pseudo
policia.
As for the sources, I am not sure if you know, but
the imagery source used is automatically added to the
OSM changeset database. Additionally, I frequently
checked and used all the imagery available on my
editors, so each node or way could have had multiple
exclusive sources. If I used external imagery, such as
Sentinel2, I normally attributed it.
Until May 3, everything seemed to be fine. I had
been contentedly and diligently mapping the same way
for years, without any objection. I have over 12 000
edits, which probably consumed well over 10 000 hours
of my volunteered and dedicated time. I prided myself
on top quality mapping and mapping entirely new routes,
notably railways.
On May 3, one rude, obnoxious and ignorant
individual named “Herman Lee” instigated and propagated
this recent shitshow, and that should be readily
apparent to any competent person. Why did he or you
not respond to my queries when I asked why he sent 8
messages in less than 90 minutes, all containing large
inexplicable binaries? I still consider his actions
nefarious, especially considering a zero explanation.
Andy, you sent me a (DWG) message to respond, and
then when I went to do so, I found you had blocked my
account. I hope you can discern the ludicrous irony
there? Maybe you think that that most OSM dweebs are
spending most their time in their mother’s basements
dedicated to OSM? I already know I spent (wasted?)
too much OCD time on OSM, and my intermittent
connections and other real responsibilities have
prevented any more.
As for my guide lines and circles that I have been
using for many years, it became acceptable to me when I
noticed that OSM was riddled with millions of metres of
“Hires” ways. I initially and ironically was deleting
some of them, as I erroneously thought they were
blatant commercial promotion for jobs, such as “Yahoo
Hires” and “Bing Hires”, versus the actually intended
term ‘high resolution’.
When I mapped new features, especially railway
curves, I initially estimated the size and radius, and
then with updated imagery, sized and aligned them more
accurately. Maybe you did not know, but railway
curves have a constant radius, which is well mapped
using a template circle. The beauty was, if the
placement was off, I only had to quickly move the line
or circle and all the attached nodes moved with it.
Conversely, each node would need to be individually
moved, which would take substantial effort and time.
I also extensively used Sentinel2Explorer on new
railway projects. Occasionally, I temporarily added
the “highway=path” tag to make the way visible on
Sentinel2Explorer, which AFAIK, was the only publicly
accessible ‘real time’ and recent imagery. I could
then get visible overlay feedback on OSM ways inside
Sentinel2Explorer after the change propagated. Often,
clear images could take weeks or longer. With what I
did, there was no lasting visibility on publicly
available maps. After I was satisfied with my way’s
accuracy, I deleted the guidelines. Maximal mapping
accuracy was consistently my objective, not adhering to
a few valueless directives.
I would be interested if a more proficient
individual than I could suggest any better method to
map new ways without existing imagery.
My temporary additions contrasted to the
proliferation of millions of incorrectly imported hash
tag highway paths and other objects destined to persist
indefinitely and which are actually non-existent. You
seemed to have been able to delete most my ~thousand
remaining guidelines in three seconds, which indicates
it was not actually a problem. The fact that drawing
each circle guideline consumed 30 minutes or more of my
time was immaterial. I do not think DWG will be
addressing with the same vigour all the useless “hires”
lines and millions of errant “paths”.
My enjoyment value had been steady declining. A
year or two ago, my WWW browsers stopped functioning to
edit OSM. A month or two ago, my WWW browsers stopped
functioning to even view OSM. A side effect from this,
is I cannot even respond to emailed OSM links, as I
have to first obtain another computer to view OSM, for
which I first need to forward the emailed queries to.
Minimal appreciation and maximal policing along with
an autocratic approach to any differences has
culminated to where I think it is best that I take a
sustained, and possibly permanent, vacation from this
project.
thanks,
Baden