Re: Bug#609772: ITP: osmpbf -- Java access library for OpenStreetMap PBF file format
On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 07:51:41PM +0100, David Paleino wrote:
> >
> > However, I was not aware that a pkg-osm team exists at all. The
> > question is: Would it be an advantage to join with other GIS people.
>
> No.
I do not consider the question above has a boolean return value but
rather a set of probably pros and cons which should be weighted against
each other.
> I created pkg-osm *after* joining debian-gis.
> This is because not all OSM-related software is GIS:
Probably true.
> I, for one, don't
> consider myself a GIS-guy, but rather an OSMer, and I understand a very small
> part of GIS, just those things that make me an über-OSMer. ;)
I feel exactly the same: Since one year I consider myself as engaged
OSMer but my consequence when I realised this was rather: I should try
to dedicate a share of my spare time to work on OSM in a team which
works in a workfield where OSM perfectly fits into.
> Most packages are co-maintained by debian-gis and pkg-osm: a couple, however,
> have nothing to do with GIS. See osmpbf, or monav (both in NEW), or
> osm-gps-map. All of them are very OSM-focused ;)
Just added monav and osm-gps-map to Debian GIS OSM task. Blends page
needs to wait for next cron job.
> So, osmpbf is a perfect candidate for pure pkg-osm maintainance.
What means "pure" in this context and why do you think that it is
necessary to be pure here.
> About the critical mass: we're all the same people maintaining those packages.
> The OSM guys in debian-gis are mainly Giovanni and me, so it would be us
> maintaining those packages anyway ;)
Yes, that's true and you will probably be mentioned as uploaders and it
might turn out that nobody else from the Debian GIS team will touch your
package. But that's not the point and I've thought you know the game
from Debian Med: We also have our people who are dedicated / focussed
on for instance microbiology and medical imaging. I think you might
agree that booth fields are at least that different as "pure" GIS and
"pure" OSM (whatever you might understand by this). The only common
thing between microbiology and medical imaging is probably that both are
to some extend used in health care. You will probably remember that you
(as a dentist in spe) without any direct affiliation to both topics has
once touched packages of this field to push some packaging standards,
help fixing bugs etc. So the fact that we widened the project and not
narrowed the focus on "pure" microbiology" and "pure" medical imaging
(from a maintainers perspective this distinction would make perfectly
sense) has widened your focus, has strengthened the team, has enabled
some semi-automatic changes for packaging regarding new
Standards-Versions or something like this and was finally successful
for Debian Med.
We have an even wider focus in Debian Science. While I think that this
focus is actually to wide it simply makes no sense to separate all these
sinces if single science groups just do not fly because there is no real
teamwork effect.
To come back to Debian GIS with the experiences above: I have the vision
to join all those people who are working with geographic information to
some extend and make this whole group *visible* *inside* Debian and well
known *outside* Debian. So what is your plan to make pkg-osm as a
single packaging team visible inside Debian? How do you want to attract
other packagers which are keen on packaging OSM packages? From time to
time I just learn *by chance* that there are interesting teams some of
my packages would fit in. I personally was about to package OSM
software as well - but I would probably not have known about pkg-osm
because I was not explicitely seeking for it (might be my fault ...).
Even the larger focussed Debian GIS team is not doing well in
advertising their work. I personally feel not really in the position to
*speak* *for* the *team*. So I only suggested a DPN article[1] and
asked again two weeks later[2]. I got no "go for it" / "don't do it" or
something like this (which is really not much work) and I think I now
will push the thing to make a project which is worth becoming popular
more known. Do you want to do this announcement work on your own for
OSM or isn't it more simple to just plug in a "by the way, there are
some peeople doing cool OSM stuff in Debian GIS"?
Kind regards
Andreas.
[1] http://lists.debian.org/debian-gis/2010/12/msg00020.html
[2] http://lists.debian.org/debian-gis/2010/12/msg00035.html
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