OSM Development

I'll move this over to a proper date stamped blog at some point, but OSM Development Problems is a start to log all the time being spent on what should be an easy process.

When I originally started playing with maps, OSM did not exist, and while the original map server no longer works, all of that materiel is still archived. At some point I would like to get the historic maps working again, but for the moment I'm targeting the OSM material.

Adding to the fun all the time is the cavalier way that the base operating system gets messed with, be that windows and it's attempts to break into touch screen devices, or Linux with it's obsession with 'improving on windows' on the desktop. Keeping a stable platform to work from is a problem and while 'Classic Shell' provides a good attempt at restoring a clean legacy desktop, and KDE and Gnome have at least now respected a similar classic base, things tat used to just work seem to get broken regularly. Just as I had maintained the mapserver service across several changes of browser and OS versions, getting it working with modern platforms needs time which is simply not available. The latest development is the plan on Openstreetmap to replace the currently fairly UK friendly style of roads with blue motorways and green primary routes with purples and reds. This is intended to make it more internationally acceptable, but I don't think that is as acceptable as the proponents spending the time development think. That we need a UK based style for UK location maps on websites and the like is something OSM has provided for some time, and the ability to add accurate building, parking and access information for premises to OSM has allowed many rural business premises to be documented and shown on a map where on Google and Bing they may well be in the middle of a white space. The problem is how to support a local rendering while still linking back to OSM to promote it. This is something of a pain since it requires a lot more work than the original tinkering of the style sheet. Added to the additional work is all the tools that will need also to have their style sheets reworked to be compatible.

The current object is to provide a UK based portal to OSM in much the same way that the French and Germans currently do and leave the 'international' view to those who prefer that style. So where does one start? Well back in Linux SUSE 12.3 days I had a working local tile server. When 13.1 came along changes to libraries broke it, and after a little work it was restored. The current problem is SUSE13.2 is throwing more spanners in, and these are the ones I'm trying to fend off. The current areas of play are:-

Local Tile Server Setup Take 2
OSM Replication of Data
OSRM Routing Software Compile on SUSE13.2

These link where appropriate to previous crib sheets, and using the search box for OSM will bring up a number of additional articles relating to OSM developments.