On 19/09/2013 14:45, tagging-requ...@openstreetmap.org wrote:
IMHO the great invention of OSM is that it isn't based on an ontology but on free tagging. The world is too complex (and dynamic) to be entirely described by an ontology. It seems appealing to try though, I admit, but it will always result in flattening complexity (and therefor detail and small but fine distinctions).
If you can't actually describe the subtleties to other people in a way that makes sense to them, then you have failed to do what you set out to do by introducing the difference in the first place, because it is simply incomprehensible.
But if you can describe it to people, then with a suitable structure, I am sure it is possible to describe it to machines as well, so that they can do something useful with it even if they haven't been programmed to every last nuance. Not least, to offer it on menus as a possibility (together with a human readable description or pointer thereto), and to render it as if it were something very similar if that makes sense to the person who introduced it.
The key thing is the knowledge is centralised and that it can offer some upward compatibility in the face of rapid and anarchic change.
Can I suggest people look at by TagCentral proposal from SOTM10, slides and video linked from here:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SotM_2010_session:_Tag_Central:_a_Schema_for_OSM where I thought about this in quite some detail. David _______________________________________________ Tagging mailing list Tagging@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging
