

OpenStreetMap creates and distributes free geographic data for the world - jaakl
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Main_Page

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patrickaljord
OpenStreetMap is awesome but not really a map service, it hosts the open data
and the map editor/wiki. You can use their map to a certain extend but if
there was a huge spike in traffic, their site would fall. If you want a good
service based on OSM with directions and more, you have to use something else
such as mapquest which is US based or host it yourself.

~~~
buro9
Or MapBox - [http://www.mapbox.com/](http://www.mapbox.com/)

Though, MapBox is _extremely_ expensive if you require SSL support (because
your site is on SSL) and you are a startup. You can't even solve it yourself
by performing the SSL termination and proxying the requests as that is
prohibited in their T&Cs.

But at least they exist and offer a really beautiful map style based on the
OSM data. Still US based though, but they also provide TileMill so you can
host your own (though not using their very good Streets styling).

~~~
freyfogle
Another option for map tiles is
[http://www.thunderforest.com](http://www.thunderforest.com)

On the data side there's the recently launched
[http://opencagedata.com](http://opencagedata.com) (disclosure, I'm the
founder).

The point is with OSM there's more than one way to do it. You can dive in, get
your hands dirty and do it all yourself, or work with a rapidly growing
ecosystem of service providers who do the work for you at a cost. With private
geodata / map providers, be they internet giants like Goog or national mapping
agencies there is their way or ... their way.

~~~
buro9
My biggest use-case for maps on web-sites is to simply communicate a location.

Not to navigate by car, by bike, by foot. Not to show advertiser bubbles, or
utilities.

Just a clear communication of "The point in question is in this neighbourhood,
at that point.".

For me, that's the beauty in MapBox's Streets style... it does that one thing
really well. Retaining enough countryside detail to make location recognition
very good, and it works brilliantly in a city. Yet at the same time it's
neutral enough to look great no matter how bad the design of the web-site it
appears on.

I definitely prefer non-US, and non-giant mapping providers, but there's a lot
to be said for cartographers who design maps to be useful generically for
location recognition rather than anything else. I strongly feel that this is
what Google Maps got so right, and is also why MapBox will do very well.

More than the tech, design matters.

~~~
andyking
I agree with this, which is why the new Google Maps rubs me up the wrong way.
I don't like how it changes the emphasis of different streets and roads
depending on what you've searched for. A major road is a major road, and
shouldn't turn into a minor road just because the restaurant you clicked on
isn't on it.

We look at a map of our town or city, and the main roads in and out are the
spines - everything is off one of them. If you turn those white, and remove
the emphasis, the map becomes far less readable.

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renegadedev
From the OSM home page: "We started it because most maps you think of as free
actually have legal or technical restrictions on their use, holding back
people from using them in creative, productive, or unexpected ways."

To me, this is the biggest issue using other mapping services. T&Cs can be a
real pain - API usage restrictions, data usage restrictions, quotas,
licensing.

Mind you the restrictions themselves are not the big deal but the fact that
most major mapping providers don't make these restrictions clear enough - you
have to sift through the terms page in most cases and read vaguely worded
"legalese" to figure out if what you're attempting to do violates their terms
of use.

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forgottenpaswrd
I wonder if any American public agencies like NASA satellites pictures being
public domain has something to do with that.

In Europe we pay public satellites companies an arm and a leg, and then the
information is not free for taxpayers. You have to pay or fill long forms
justifying the use of the data for an European company.

If you are the son or daughter of the required politician your request will be
granted, if not you will wait as they simply ignore your message. I did it
myself.

This means that any European maps startup(Asian is even worse), serving
Europe's market is really f*cked from the start.

~~~
vetler
If they're public domain, they're probably available for europeans as well,
though?

~~~
rmc
There is public domain satellite imagery for USA and Europe available from the
US Government (e.g. NASA). There is public domain map data available for the
USA, but not Europe available from the US Government (e.g. Tiger data).

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FredericJ
Ironically Apple Maps is based on Tom Tom's cartography (but succeeded in
making things worse). Tom-Tom is a company from the Netherlands which acquired
Tele Atlas
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tele_Atlas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tele_Atlas))

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fs111
That is simply not true. TomTom is in the Netherlands and their map is here:
[http://routes.tomtom.com](http://routes.tomtom.com)

~~~
legulere
But is it really global? For example Kabul only has 2 roads on tomtom

~~~
jeroen94704
So the real question is: Is it complete? Not "is it global". But I'm sure
OpenStreetMap is incomplete as well, although maybe less incomplete than
others.

~~~
legulere
I think there's a difference between being incomplete and effectively not
having mapped a country at all.

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tome
What does "global non-US maps service" mean?

Does it mean a service which provides worldwide mapping that's not based in
the US?

~~~
random42
yes

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k_bx
[http://maps.yandex.com](http://maps.yandex.com)?

~~~
0x006A
They use cartography from Navteq, a Chicago-based Nokia subsidiary.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navteq](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navteq)

~~~
mseebach
The relevancy of that depends on what the motivation for declaring OSM the
only non-US map.

If it's with reference to NSA (one can only guess, but that seems to be in
line with the times), that you won't get tracked, it's irrelevant where the
map was made, as long as the map servers are operated outside the US.

------
lxst
Technically speaking: Isn't Nokia HERE also a global non-US map-service,
seeing as Nokia is based in Finnland?

~~~
FredericJ
Nokia's cartography is from Navteq, a Chicago-based subsidiary.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navteq](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navteq)

~~~
tellarin
Actually, Navteq is no longer an independent entity since 2011-2012. The
business unit is now called HERE [1] and mostly divided between Germany and
the US.

It provides maps services for MS, MapQuest, Garmin, Amazon, Yahoo! Maps,
Yandex, BMW, Oracle GIS...

But the Navteq brand still exists.

[1] [http://www.nokia.com/global/about-nokia/about-us/our-
structu...](http://www.nokia.com/global/about-nokia/about-us/our-structure/)

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iamshs
Why would I directly use it through browser and not third parties? What is
their differentiating factor? I am not being facetious, but just being
curious. I only know 4 square and maybe Apple uses their data.

~~~
tommorris
Because in a lot of places, OSM has more accurate points-of-interest coverage.

I maintain the map for a fair chunk of Soho in London. On Google Maps, I've
seen places I know about filled with points of interest that aren't actually
there, geo-targetted SEO spam and so on.

For various bits of London, if the map says it's there, I either put it there
or checked it.

I just checked an area of London that I maintain for OSM but on Google Maps:
it's a load of shit. Shops and businesses that closed years ago still on the
map. Large corporations inside police stations. The Victoria Embankment
Gardens marked as being in the River Thames.

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shin_lao
What about [http://www.mappy.fr/](http://www.mappy.fr/) ?

~~~
fs111
that is mostly TomTom behind the scenes, but that is European as well.

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JimmaDaRustla
TIL Nokia's maps are based in the US. Odd...

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anonymfus
Wikimapia? BTW it has OSM layer support now.

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Ultron
I think BlackBerry maps has global reach (and BlackBerry is a Canadian
company).

