Intro to OpenStreetMap

The Wikipedia of Google Maps

Created by Matthew Cengia / @mattcen

Who am I

• Computer Scientist
• Linux Systems Adminstrator
• Playing with Linux and open source since 2005
• Cyber IT Solutions (cyber.com.au)
• Computers in Prisons (PrisonPC.com)
• Scout Leader
• Mapping Hobbyist
• Excitable, enthusiastic, tin-foil-hat-wearing geek

Yeah... so... What is OpenStreetMap?

• https://openstreetmap.org
• Wikipedia of Google Maps
• World-wide map database
• Completely user-contributed
• Basically unrestricted use

Cool... So what can I use it for?

Anything you like!

• Trip routing
• Offline smart phone access
• Store maps on your hand-held GPS
• Custom map tiles
• Build advanced mapping websites

Custom Tiles

Arbitrary attributes

           <way id="22820458" visible="true" version="6"
           changeset="15666374" timestamp="2013-04-09T13:51:05Z"
           user="Canley" uid="57437">
            <nd ref="245537990"/>
            [...]
            <nd ref="245537990"/>
            <tag k="addr:city" v="Melbourne"/>
            <tag k="addr:housenumber" v="328"/>
            <tag k="addr:postcode" v="3000"/>
            <tag k="addr:street" v="Swanston Street"/>
            <tag k="amenity" v="library"/>
            <tag k="building" v="yes"/>
            <tag k="fax" v="+61 3 96394737"/>
            <tag k="landmark:name" v="No value"/>
            <tag k="name" v="State Library of Victoria"/>
            <tag k="name:fr" v="Bibliothèque d'État du Victoria"/>
            <tag k="name:zh" v="维多利亚州立图书馆"/>
            <tag k="phone" v="+61 3 86647000"/>
            <tag k="website" v="http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/"/>
           </way>
          

What about Google Maps?

• Google tracks you
• Exporting large map segments is difficult
• Can't use it offline on your PC or smart phone
• Can't store it on your GPS
• No custom tiles
• Restrictions on usage for websites etc.
• Difficult to get edits approved
• You're basically working for Google

Demos and Questions

Intro to OpenStreetMap by Matthew Cengia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. https://github.com/mattcen/sfd2014-openstreetmap