Loomio
Sat 6 May 2017 12:24PM

Getting the UK map going...

NW Nick Whitelegg Public Seen by 584

Thread to discuss the development of the UK map, including feature discussion, technical issues and other issues such as obtaining a server, server configuration/software installation etc.

NW

Nick Whitelegg Sat 6 May 2017 12:46PM

Hi,

Adam has invited me to lead the project to develop the UK map, so I'd like to kick things off with a view to actually getting development started as soon as we can. I'd like to discuss both getting a server and development issues/ideas.

The first issue is that we need a server. For my Freemap project I've been using Bytemark for many years and have been very happy with them: they provide a VM with full root access. Price list is at

https://www.bytemark.co.uk/prices/

They have a flexible model where you can start with a basic server and scale up. For Freemap I use the basic £10/month offering; for a production UK map server we'd obviously need something more than that, but for initial development, something like that would probably do.

An alternative is Digital Ocean (https://www.digitalocean.com/products/compute/) who offer a similar product; overall it looks a little cheaper, particularly regarding data transfer, though they're US based and charge in dollars. I have no experience of Digital Ocean... anyone?

What shall we do about actually physically paying, once we've selected a server provider... do we have an account?

The other topic I'd like to discuss is the actual development. I'm happy to do much of it myself but obviously I can't do everything - and I am a developer rather than a web designer, graphic designer or UI/UX expert. So we need volunteers for those aspects in particular.

In terms of server-side implementation language I'd suggest PHP unless there are strong objections - basically it's the server-side language I have most experience in, and I already have a good deal of code I use for Freemap which could be reused for certain features (see below).

So in summary I'm happy to do much of the following (with some help from other contributors, as obviously I can't do it all...)
* Install and configure PostGIS, Mapnik, a tile server etc
* Client- and server- side coding (JavaScript, PHP or equivalent)
* some work on the Mapnik style file, though would need input from cartography specialists too

but the following aspects would be better done by others:
* Web design/UX
* Graphic design, if appropriate

There seems to be a consensus towards Landranger style rendering, is this still the case?

Detailed features are probably left for further down the line, but here are some ideas, based on a walker's perspective admittedly:
* the map should definitely have contours. On Freemap I've always used the OS OpenData height data as it's the best available, I presume there are no legal issues with this if they're in a separate DB and then combined with the OSM data by the renderer?
* make the map highly interactive, e.g. clickable POIs, report footpath problems, add missing tags to ways, allow users to create walk routes etc.

Many of these are already implemented by Freemap in PHP, so with some cleanup of the code could be incorporated into OSM-UK; this is why I suggest PHP as sever side language.

  • users to use their OSM account to login (OAuth)

I still like the idea of client-side, vector rendering using technologies such as Kothic-JS, however not sure if it's quite mature enough for a project as high profile as this.

Any thoughts, or volunteers? As I said, first priority is to get the server.

Thanks,
Nick

R

RobJN Sat 6 May 2017 6:38PM

Hi @nickwhitelegg Thanks for taking this one on :-D

We're in the process of getting the bank account up and running (they have asked for more info from us) and then need to do a membership drive. After that we should have funds available.

My suggestion is to focus on some of the other parts first, perhaps as a demo/pilot. This way we are not waiting on the server.

By all means, please share server options (we're looking at this at the moment so the timing is great). We'd like email with webmail access so if there are options to bundle this with the server cost then that would be great.

NW

Nick Whitelegg Sun 7 May 2017 12:24PM

Hi Rob, no problem :-) Will do my best...

How about I get a low-spec Bytemark server going now and then claim the payments I make in the meantime (which is only £12/month, inc vat, so not a huge bind) back when the account is ready and funds available? Would this be possible? I can always ask Bytemark whether it would be straightforward to change the account details when the OSM UK account is ready - I'd presume it would be.

This way we'd have some dedicated server space to play around with and people could have shell logins - rather than using my own server or people developing stuff at home.

I'm almost certain Bytemark or similar providers would allow you to set up an email server... it's basically full root access so you can do what you like, within reason

R

RobJN Sat 6 May 2017 6:39PM

P.s. If you like, I can send 1 to 2 short paragraphs (4-5 sentences each) to those subscribed to the email newsletter. Let me know.

NW

Nick Whitelegg Sun 7 May 2017 12:31PM

That would be great... how about something like the following (feel free to edit):

Hi, I am leading the project to get the OSM UK map going and am looking for volunteers! We aim to have dedicated server space very soon so would be good to kick off the development of a prototype/demo, focusing on a small part of the UK (say Hampshire and surrounding areas). The aim is to produce a UK "slippy map" and accompanying website, so I'm particularly looking for people with skills in web design, UX and graphic design... and cartographers too.

I'm happy to do much of the server and client side scripting and server software installation, but would still welcome help here too. I'd like to suggest PHP as the server side language unless there are any strong objections - reason being I have some code developed already which could be used to implement some of the more interactive features of the map such as clickable POIs, annotations and walking routes.

So please let me know on Loomio or via email ([email protected]) if you're interested in contributing, or have any ideas for input!

Thanks,
Nick

R

RobJN Sun 7 May 2017 4:08PM

Hi @nickwhitelegg

We will discuss at the next meeting, but don't let this stop you starting any work that does not require money (e.g. cartography decisions).

NW

Nick Whitelegg Mon 8 May 2017 8:51AM

Hi @robjn OK that's fine. Where is the best place to discuss cartography issues... on here? I have a few ideas but these are largely related to the needs of walkers.. so need more input for urban mapping. Are enough people a member of this group? Or is it best done on the mailing list?

R

RobJN Mon 8 May 2017 6:46PM

Up to you @nickwhitelegg. If you think the decision tools here will be useful then stick with Loomio and maybe just post an invite to the mailing list.

AM

Alex McKee Wed 10 May 2017 5:37PM

@nickwhitelegg , saw your post on Talk-GB. I'm a PHP developer and I have some experience with OSM rendering stack as well (Postgres+PostGIS, Mapnik). If you need extra hands for the development side of things I'd be interested in helping. I've been contributing to OSM since 2008.

NW

Nick Whitelegg Thu 11 May 2017 8:40AM

@alexmckee thanks!

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