Questions about the future of Mapeak in relation to OSM/open data/FOSS

Communities ישראל (Israel)
1

I’ve been a fan of IsraelHikingMap (now Mapeak) since its early days, some of my OSM data contributions have been specifically to improve IHM. I’ve also made some (pretty minuscule) non-data contributions to the Github repo. IHM also brought many new people to OSM and I am happy for that. The IHM staff (@zstadler @Harel_M ) have made wonderful contributions to the community and I thank them for it!

To me, part of the IHM appeal is its spirit of openness and ties to the OSM community. I am not against commercial initiatives, but when I volunteer, I want the fruit of my effort to be freely available to the world non-commercially, for as long as possible, distributed in the same spirit it was given.

Lately there have been some changes:

  • The Hebrew name “מפת הטיולים הפתוחה” changed to “Mapeak”, removing the word “open”.
  • As far as I know, The code of Israel Hiking Map was fully open source, while the newer Mapeak is not.
  • There are plans to offload some data from open initiatives like OSM and Wikimedia into Mapeak itself.
    • Images are to be moved away from Wikimedia to Mapeak .
    • Some routes are to be moved away from OSM to Mapeak.
  • This is an older change but: offline maps are behind a paywall.

I also couldn’t find a written outline of the philosophy/attitude of the project regarding open data or open source or the longer term plan.

There are technical reasons to remove some routes from OSM (namely the route recommendations without physical evidence, but not the singletracks imo), and there may be good legal reasons for the Wikimedia migration.

But I think the above changes, when combined with a lack of a clear communication of the longer term plan, leave vagueness regarding the commitment to openness.

I made this thread as a request for better communication/transparency regarding the longer term plan and philosophy of the project.

My umbrella question is: Where is this product heading in terms of open data and open source code?, but here are some specific questions that might drive the conversation:

  • Are there any plans to move more data from OSM elsewhere?
  • Are there plans to change any data licenses (non-osm utilities like images, routes, etc), whether in retrospect or for newly submitted data?
  • Which parts of the Mapeak codebase will be proprietary and which parts will be open source if at all?
  • Would you consider some charter/philosophy page?
  • Is the project willing to make long term assurances about not closing/commercializing the data down the road?
  • Are there plans to add more paywalls to more features? Are there “paywall red lines” that the project would never put behind a paywall?
  • Are there some “openness red lines” that the project would never cross?

Of course, this is not a demand and the project owners have all the right to not participate, or to only answer part of the questions.

But since this is a volunteer-driven crowdsourced project, I think transparency is only fair and would help each user decide the extent of the contributions they’re willing to make:

  • Whether they’ll limit themselves to data in the OSM db
  • Which OSM data in particular to invest time in
  • Whether or not to invest time in other contribution channels like Github code, images, non-osm routes, map styling improvements, etc.

I also think honestly clarifying the position regarding openness (either way) would benefit everyone involved.

Thank you in advance!

2 Likes
2

Over the years we have helped creating a large community of contributors to OSM and Wikimedia.
Many of the contributions currently made to OSM in Israel are made by Israel Hiking Map (a.k.a. IHM) and Mapeak users. IHM and Mapeak users are the overwhelming majority among the trace contributors to OSM in Israel.

As the IHM and Mapeak developers, @Harel_M and I fight to keep the contribution of our community open. At the same time, we protect our personal hard work and achievements from being abused by commercial vendors.

Let’s look at the facts:

  • Mapeak is the world-wide version of the IHM. Nothing changed in the openness of the information. User contributions are uploaded to global open initiatives that are willing to accept them.

  • While some of the code of Israel Hiking Map was and is open, some of it is not. For example, the server setup and infrastructure aren’t.

    • Some vendors of commercial Israeli maps have abused the open license of the code used to create our old raster maps. As a result, the configuration for generating the new vector tiles is not publicly available.

  • Mapeak and Israel Hiking Map have not initiated any transfer of data from OSM or Wikimedia into Mapeak itself!

    • In all cases, Mapeak suggested to host about-to-be-deleted data that was contributed by the IHM and Mapeak community:
    • Wikimedia Common declared they will delete more than 8000 images uploaded by our community. It was their initiative. Mapeak plans to provide, and fund, an alternative hosting service to keep the open data open.
    • Members of the OSM Israel community suggested that many “pirate” bike routes should be deleted from OSM as they are no different than other private routes created by individuals. It was not Mapeak/IHM initiative. Mapeak merely suggested providing an alternative hosting service to keep the open data open.

  • Offline maps were never offered for free. Such small fees enables us to run the services, maintain the existing offerings and develop new capabilities, such as the global map coverage in Mapeak.

3

Just wondering how you got that data?

In what way did they abuse it?