And they contribute back to the project, right? Right?
Just switching by itself is a huge contribution.
And I also think they pay to use it, since commercial usage is not free.
since commercial usage is not free
Commercial usage oft the osm data is free, see the OSM license. The article even speculates that they switched from Google maps due to licenses costs.
Of course this doesn’t apply to commercial services that provide e.g. map tiles.
I dont think they pay anything I the article itself it says it’s free to use and that the main factor to switch were the costs. In the comments there people also say that DHL doesn’t seem to donate to the project.
Here ist the part from the article translated to English:
Since there has been no announcement of the change from either Deutsche Post or DHL, the reasons for this step remain unclear. Presumably, cost reasons may have played a role. Deutsche Post had to pay fees to Google for the use of Google Maps. The data of Openstreetmap is under a free license and may be used without payment of license fees.
I dont think they pay anything I the article itself it says it’s free to use
The data is free to download. Someone has to host the map data and that’s either a 3rd party provider or self-hosted. Both cost money.
The simple fact companies like this se the data. Will encourage others who use those companies to update data around them.
Many small companies will find it useful to ensure OSM knows where they are. And inďeviduals who often do not choose delivery companies. Will quickly discover adding short cuts and details around them helps ensure there parcels arrive.
Not to mention most drivers for a company like this. Will want to aid other drivers if they find useful info during an of the beaten path delivery.
OSM Germany is absolutely detailed. Honestly, german contributors could spare some time mapping in other countries.
@selokichtli @julianwgs in the early days, people used to joke that to get good data in #OpenStreetMap you either had to import data, or import Germans. 🤣🤣
@amapanda @selokichtli @julianwgs
There was also this joke (which did turn darker two years later): https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Quotes#2012-07-20 .
At least for the more fundamental information like paths or trails this is true. I only really get to map stuff when in holidays abroad, because here you have to check a 100 times if something is mapped to find a handful of chances to contribute anything, which has a frustrating feel to it 😅
Have you heard of Streetcomplete? If not it’s an app which turns OSM mapping into a game of sorts.
It shows bubbles for missing information at your current location. I.e. what’s the surface type of this particular road or way? What kind of parking lot is this? What are the opening hours of this shop?
Yes I know it, and sometimes use it for a little. But the vast majority of things it presents to complete to me feel rather unimportant. My leisure time isn’t exactly plenty, and then I rather do other things I see more value in. Even surface type is mapped most of the time, and I don’t take the effort to map surface quality because it is not used for anything. Maybe I’ll make an App at some point that infers surface quality automatically while road biking from the acceleration sensor in the phone mounted to the handlebar…
Finally all those doors I mapped become valuable for someone.
Awesome. Always annoyed me when I got a delivery from them, but couldn’t view the map without selling my soul to Google.
This is great news!
