Magic Earth: OSM based map and routing with crowd sourced traffic data

But then I remembered I had Organic Maps tucked away, ready to go, with a highly detailed map of California for offline navigation use.

Big thanks to Organic Maps for making me seem prepared and allowing me to recover gracefully from what could otherwise have been a somewhat annoying situation.

What the holy hell is going on with that repo? do they `git add local.osm.dump` or something? I mean, I was kidding but evidently not that crazy far off: https://github.com/organicmaps/organicmaps/blob/master/data/...

I was expecting to find `git add release/organicmaps-1.0.apk` which is a super common "I've never used git before" antipattern

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since I already paid the price, some `git archive HEAD | tar -tvf - | sort -k3 -n` coughed up

    -rw-rw-r-- root/root   1854526 2023-08-07 05:45 android/src/fdroid/play/listings/en-US/graphics/phone-screenshots/1.jpg
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root   1863096 2023-08-07 05:45 tools/shaders_compiler/linux/mali_compiler_es3/openglessl/libMali-T600_r11p0-00rel0.so
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root   2583640 2023-08-07 05:45 tools/shaders_compiler/linux/mali_compiler_es3/openglessl/libMali-T600_r12p0-00rel0.so
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root   3017640 2023-08-07 05:45 tools/shaders_compiler/linux/mali_compiler_es3/openglessl/libMali-T600_r13p0-00rel0.so
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root   3155104 2023-08-07 05:45 data/06_code2000.ttf
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root   3451900 2023-08-07 05:45 data/02_droidsans-fallback.ttf
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root   3676527 2023-08-07 05:45 data/packed_polygons.bin
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root   4696613 2023-08-07 05:45 software_renderer/default_font.cpp
    -rwxrwxr-x root/root   6131664 2023-08-07 05:45 tools/shaders_compiler/linux/glslangValidator
    -rwxrwxr-x root/root   6498904 2023-08-07 05:45 tools/shaders_compiler/macos/glslangValidator
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root   7315682 2023-08-07 05:45 3party/opening_hours/opening_hours_integration_tests/opening-count.lst
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root   8384030 2023-08-07 05:45 data/kml_test_data/test.kmz
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root   8757104 2023-08-07 05:45 data/WorldCoasts.mwm
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root 20,461,104 2023-08-07 05:45 tools/shaders_compiler/linux/mali_compiler_es3/openglessl/libMali-Gxx_r3p0-00rel0.so
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root 43,812,962 2023-08-07 05:45 data/World.mwm
    -rw-rw-r-- root/root 50,994,390 2023-08-07 05:45 data/dictionary.slf

    $ git log --format='%cs %s' -- data/World.mwm
    2023-07-13 [planet] New data from 230710.
    2023-06-05 [planet] New data from 230602.
    2023-05-08 [planet] New data from 230503.
    2023-04-02 [planet] New data from 230329.
    2023-03-01 [planet] New data from 230227.
    2023-02-13 [planet] New data from 230210.
    2023-01-24 [planet] New data from 230121.

The reason for that is it's search actually works, it displays live traffic info, and they have a simple easy-to-read privacy policy: https://www.magicearth.com/privacy/

Would it be better open source? Yeah, for sure. However, as far as I can tell, they abide by all the licencing terms for OSM, etc.

Counterexample: Mapbox [1]

1- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapbox

In addition to all of the above, Maps.me has had a pretty ample userbase for a long time now - while it is technically an open-source codebase (to the extent its even been forked & put on FDroid), its privacy policy & general Russian links of the company behind it still leave a lot of red flags for your typical OSM users.

Please speak for yourself :) OSM contributor here: I'm already happy if there's a great mapping product that uses open geo data, might not use it myself if it's closed source but it's better than google keeping everything to itself or behind a paywall. I understand it costs them money to keep their map up to date, but they could also collaborate with the rest of us and have free geo data for all. Apple taking OSM data for their devices, for example, is to me exciting rather than "not sitting well". I'd be ten times as thrilled if they'd open source it, don't get me wrong, but still

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Comparison_of_iOS_applic...

> If you use the GPL, those competitors will just be Chinese or from some non-western jurisdiction that doesn’t care about GPL enforcement.

This is true – some in China will use GPL code and not stick to the license and that may be a competitive advantage over companies that do play ball¹. But other people ignoring the license should not be considered a reason for anyone else not to, and that shouldn't stop people choosing the GPL if that is what they want for their software.

> Man, rms followers are annoying. Stop trying to GPL the entire internet.

Man, anti-GPL people are annoying. Stop trying to have someone else's cake and eat it. :)

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[1] Onyx and their Boox range² being one example, last I heard the company was trying to play the race card and make it an anti-China-sentiment issue instead of a blatantly-disregarding-a-license-agreement matter.

[2] Not the only issue that puts me off those devices, apparently hidden call home code is present and always active on at least some of them.

However it appears to underestimate traffic delays for DC->OBX beach traffic. On a summer Saturday morning, that’s a 6-7 hour drive. Or worse. Apple Maps has it closer to 5-5:30 for most of the day. Google gives a range from 4:45-6:30 - 4:45 is basically impossible any time of day and year but 6:30 is ballpark-ish if you don’t hit a major traffic jam.

But maybe that’s a worst-case route.