Open Mobile Map

As you’ve probably heard the Ordnance Survey is going to open some data next week. We don’t exactly know what data or what license it will be under but there’s a reasonable chance it won’t be importable in to OSM because either the data will be low scale or released with an incompatible license.

If that’s the case then I propose we start, separate from OSM, an OpenOS project. I basically see it as either a clearinghouse for putting up converted formats for the data and/or a full OSM stack, mapnik, potlatch and all for editing and fixing it. Because as Russ Nelson keeps saying, datasets without a community are dead.

I propose that until we know it’s compatible, usable and so on in OSM that no OSM resources are spent/used on something like this. Thus, I’ve bought the domain openos.co.uk to host it and set up a google group which you’re welcome to join to help discuss what to do if/when we get some data.

I think this data will need a community, tools and editing and who better to build all that than people from OSM?

Thoughts?

http://groups.google.com/group/open-os
http://openos.co.uk

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