{"id":856,"date":"2012-07-25T10:43:42","date_gmt":"2012-07-25T08:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fabianpiau.com\/?p=856"},"modified":"2022-01-01T15:56:22","modified_gmt":"2022-01-01T15:56:22","slug":"open-street-map-better-map-than-google-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.fabianpiau.com\/en\/2012\/07\/25\/open-street-map-better-map-than-google-maps\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Street Map, better map than Google Maps?"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/span>Version fran\u00e7aise disponible<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Google<\/a><\/p>\n

Google’s hegemony is by definition everywhere, so it is not a surprise to find the firm in the digital mapping area. Google Maps<\/a> is one of the leader on the market.<\/p>\n

There are many other services available : Bing<\/a>, Mappy<\/a>, Michelin<\/a>… to name the best known.<\/p>\n

Above all, there is Open Street Map<\/a> (OSM).<\/p>\n

\"Open<\/a>     <\/p>\n

Started in 2004, this project is the only existing collaborative world map, their slogan : “The Free Wiki World Map”. You’ll understand that it is nothing less than the Wikipedia of maps.<\/p>\n

The most important is obviously the community. To give you an idea, in April 2012, OSM had 600,000 registered users for approximately 20,000 regular contributors (source Wikipedia<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Like Wikipedia, anyone can edit the map (Point Of Interest POI, road directions, bus stops, traffic lights…). On a portion of map, you can view all the changesets made by users (source version control). Editing roads is a little more complex, it can be achieved by using technologies based on GPS localization. With the advent of smartphones, it is now easier to contribute to roads tracing.<\/p>\n

What I immediately like with OSM is obviously the fact that it is open-source and supported actively by a community. I am especially amazed by the quality of the “final” result. OMS map is very accurate and very readable thanks to its color scheme. I let you judge for yourself.<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/a>

Google Maps<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Open<\/a>

Open Street Map<\/p><\/div>\n

The map is available with several layers following main themes (a zoom displays the main axes of the theme) :<\/p>\n

\"Standard\"<\/a>

Standard<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Cycle<\/a>

Cycle map<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Transport<\/a>

Transport map<\/p><\/div>\n

\"MapQuest<\/a>

MapQuest open<\/p><\/div>\n

An export function in different formats (including PNG) is a small revolution. Until now, I was used to make prints-screens to export plans under Google Maps. If you like, you can even download the latest version of the map (file is 21 GB).<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, OSM features are rather limited… But, as I said, there is an active community. You will certainly find the application that suits your needs and relies on OSM data.<\/p>\n