TomTom on Openmoko?

"Marco Trevisan (Treviño)" mail at 3v1n0.net
Fri Mar 28 16:07:30 CET 2008


Alessandro Iurlano wrote:
> My area too is poorly mapped. But what I think is that once someone
> start using a commercial program because they need it, they will never
> get back to a free project if it is not yet able to deliver the same
> service.

That's untrue for me: also if sometimes I started using a closed tool, I 
always looked for an open one as replacement (also if it was missing of 
some features).

For example, when I put linux in my actual notebook there was no working 
free 3d drivers for my ATi card, but I needed 3d functionalities (and 
sometimes you can't simply not to use a thing since there's no a free 
software for it, unfortunately) so I had to use the fglrx drivers for 
some time; anyway I was always following the r300 project waiting for a 
working driver (and trying to help them with bug reports and so...).
BTW as soon as a working 3d driver has been pushed on git I've 
immediately switched to the free/open solution also if it was (at the 
beginning) harder to use, slower and missing of some features.

This is just an example, but it is similar to the mapping thing. I'll 
have no problem to use commercial maps at the beginning if I *need* to 
travel un _unknown places_, but as I've said I'll take my part in 
helping OSM.

> My understanding is that the development of free projects is started
> and driven by a need. If needs are fulfilled by another program, the
> effort that is put in developing the free project lowers considerably.

If you look at the example above, this is wrong: in drivers the efforts 
have grown and many people switched to the open solution.

> I really look forward for an Openmoko application able to display and
> let me update OSM (by gathering gps data or directly on the road).

I'll be happy to see something like that too...


Another thing... I don't think that in Italy (and other countries I 
guess) all the municipalities have digital map archives of their roads 
(or simply of their environment) since some cities like Arezzo (my 
province) had to organize an (official = launched by the municipality 
itself) OSM mapping party with people moving around with GPS devices [1] 
to map their environment (and I neither know how are actually managed 
the informations in local cadastres).

So this would make the things harder, since in many countries it won't 
easily happen what has happened in Holland. :(

[1] http://tinyurl.com/2wpvcp

-- 
Treviño's World - Life and Linux
http://www.3v1n0.net/





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