VersaTiles – a complete FLOSS map stack
versatiles.org
versatiles.org
Tile generation on the fly should really be default for most uses.
What is it that sets this apart from other similar solutions?
OpenFreeMap uses the MapTiles format [1] which is an open source format for vector tiles that does require the attribution of the OpenMapTiles page for every map generated from it (CC-BY license). Versatiles uses the Shortbread format instead [2] which is published under a CC0 license. Instead of the SQLite based mbtiles format they developed their own container format (and a converter).
I've only started tinkering with this project a little bit cause I found it interesting after watching a CCC talk with it [3]
[2] https://shortbread-tiles.org/
[3] German: https://youtu.be/8A51WkJ5S8I
- the schema of the map: what objects are available in each tile at different zoom levels. It sounds like versatiles uses the shortbread schema (contrast vs OpenMapTiles, protomaps)
- a container format: a way to pack multiple tiles into a single file. It sounds like they created their own format here (contrast vs mbtiles, pmtiles).
- the scripts/tooling to build everything
- the overall finished map product itself (contrast vs Google Maps, Stadio Maps, protomaps, OpenMapTiles, etc)
The versatile container format seems to require a custom HTTP server. But if you want, you could produce the versatiles map and store it in a pmtiles container. Or you could stick a caching proxy in front of their publicly available tile server at https://tiles.versatiles.org/tiles/osm/{z}/{x}/{y}
It would be interesting to hear them describe why they decided to create their own container format. The text that I have found seems to be contrasting it to RDBMS containers, but is silent about mbtiles/pmtiles.
There was a YouTube talk published 4 weeks ago showcasing this project, which was where I discovered it in the first place. The (German) video can be found here https://youtu.be/8A51WkJ5S8I
When I said RDBMS, I meant those that have a client/server model. The versatiles docs talk about the complexity and surface area of database systems as a motivator for creating their own container format. From this I inferred they were referring to Postgres and PostGIS, which are used in the canonical OpenMapTiles implementation.
Watching that video, they do mention not liking the traditional Postgres/PostGIS approach due to its heavy weight. But they also say they disliked mbtiles due to its SQLite dependency, and that the versatiles format is inspired on/based on pmtiles. (Apologies if I'm missing nuance here, I was watching auto translated auto generated captions.)
I found https://github.com/versatiles-org/versatiles-rs/issues/24 which contrasts the versatiles format vs the pmtiles format. After reading it, I'm not personally convinced of the benefits of versatiles vs just throwing a CDN in front of a clustered pmtiles file, but perhaps I'm missing something.
I think the auto translation of the subtitles captured most of the mentioned concerns very well.
In large part the conference talk indeed referenced operational concerns. However, there were also scalability and simplicity mentioned as a key consideration. One motivation for this project seemed to be having a good map for visualizing data for journalistic purposes (for example as embeds on news sites), so this concern makes sense.
In the video linked there also was a bit of a comparison between versatiles and protomaps during the Q&A block.
Building a tileset can often require a lot of ram, but hosting usually does not.