Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments
typodupeerror delete not in
  • Preferences

Comments: 3 +-   Open Source U.S. GPS Data?-> on Monday February 25 2008, @05:14PM tobiasly

Submitted by tobiasly on Monday February 25 2008, @05:14PM
software
tobiasly writes "I read an article today about a map error on the popular Garmin GPS devices which often leads to truckers in a particular town becoming trapped. From my own experience, every electronic map I've ever seen (Google, Mapquest, my Mio GPS) has the layout of my neighborhood completely and frustratingly wrong.

A quick search turned up only one open-source mapping project, but it's for New Zealand only. Why are there no comparable projects in the U.S. or elsewhere? Obviously such a project would need a good peer-review/moderation/trust system but I'd gladly put in the time necessary to drive around town with my GPS in "tracking" mode, then upload, tag, and verify my local data.

Has anyone with more technical knowledge in maps and auto-routing looked more into this? Are there technical limitations to such a project? Should the government subsidize a project to create open, free, up-to-date electronic maps? Surely there is a public benefit available from such a project."
Link to Original Source
submission
This discussion was created for logged-in users only, but now has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

Open Source U.S. GPS Data? 3 Comments More /

 Full
 Abbreviated
 Hidden
More
Loading... please wait.

  • Ahem... (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    http://www.openstreetmap.org/ [openstreetmap.org]
    • Yeah, I saw that but that service is severely lacking. Where do I download the data in a format that I can use on my GPS or anywhere else? Where can I upload my GPS traces so that it is automatically integrated into the main map? Where do I get auto-routing info (driving directions)? How can I vote on edits made by other users to make sure some troll doesn't route traffic to a dead end?
      • So your complaint is that there's no open source alternative that's feature-wise as good as commercial offerings? I think you've set your standards so high that you obviously won't find anything. OSM is certainly not perfect, but it's getting better every day. The data is open, which is what really matters. People are working on GPS export [openstreetmap.org], Routing [openstreetmap.org] and monitoring data [openstreetmap.org], so I expect that progress will be made in all of those areas.

        Seriously, if you can find anything that's anywhere near as good as OSM, let me
Search
When a person goes on a diet, the first thing he loses is his temper.

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2009 Geeknet, Inc.