Last Friday, Richard Weait of the Ontario Linux Fest gave an Introduction to OpenStreetMap at the Cherry Hill Linux Users Group. I was quite impressed with both the presentation and OSM..

OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org/ ) is sometimes called the "the wiki-style map of everything". While it appears to just an open source equivalent of Google Maps and various other mapping sites, there is a crucial difference: Having the data versus having only a picture of the data. With OSM, you can get the data, not just a picture. If you want to, you can set up your own OSM server. This can be useful for some applications.

Fitting the open source ethos, OSM is being built up by the contributions of many users around the world. You don't have to be a programmer or a developer to participate. Among things people can do is to collect GPS data of roads and other features of an area, verify the information, and update the OSM data. In fact, last weekend had an OSM mapping event in Philadelphia. I could not attend but it sounded quote interesting. Maybe another time.

Meanwhile, you can see OSM events and meetings around the world, as well as learn more about OSM, at the OpenStreetMap Wiki.

J.D. Abolins