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ChristianK

Major changes to the mapping process

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The entire production process for OAM maps has become somewhat outdated, so a number of upgrades to the development and production environments have become necessary. The Linux environment within Windows (WSL2) has been migrated from Debian 11 to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, which has far-reaching consequences.

1.) Python 2 is dead

  • This means that all Python scripts must be converted to Python 3; this affects:
  • The software that generates the contour lines had to be replaced = these may differ very slightly from the previous ones in terms of curve rounding.
  • The script that transfers the Mapsforge POI files to Locus, using the pyspatialite library among other things, had to be rewritten to use mod_spatialite.
    Explanation: SQLite3-Spatialite is used for fast proximity searches for POIs in the apps.
  • 90% of the Python OSM tools now need to be moved into an isolated Python environment (venv) = everything needs to be set up from scratch, including the GDAL bindings.
  • The script that calculates the sea/land areas from Jochen Topf’s SHAPE files has been replaced.

2.)
The alignment and modification of the original OSM data via OSMOSIS TagTransform now takes 1–2 hours (!!) for average-sized maps alone, and significantly longer for the large Germany maps or the Alps. Steffen, a C++ programmer who has often helped me out of a tight spot, has now made available a new C++-based TagTransform that is significantly faster – but may also contain some initial bugs….

3.)
The OSM PLACE=* relations, which I had largely eliminated after converting them to NODES, I was forced to reactivate in some cases, which has led to massive side effects in terms of rendering times – these have now multiplied for some maps – on average, a complete map set now takes a good five days longer to complete, which is rather annoying.
Here I have to painstakingly debug again to find out which giant relations are causing this (99% of which are completely unnecessary).

 

If there are any issues with the next updates (including the one coming in April), please let us know in the forum.

Wishing you all a lovely summer,
the OpenAndroMaps team

/5 Comments/by
ChristianK

[resolved]: Germany maps faulty

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5th of November: New Maps are online now!

sorry for the inconvenience.

Best regards, Christian

 

 

/2 Comments/by
ChristianK

[done] July update is delayed by one week….

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A rendering machine in full operation 24/7 in this excessive heat without air conditioning would be pure masochism.
Therefore – please be patient until it gets a little cooler…

Thank you for your understanding
and
Best regards, Christian

8th of July 2025: Update for Germany and Europe is online

/0 Comments/by
ChristianK

We habe been hacked again…

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Our test server has been hacked again and attacks have been launched against thousands of other servers.
It’s understandable that our hoster, Hetzner, doesn’t like this at all.

I have now completely deleted the (modern, supposedly secure) test server.

The live server with an economical, ancient operating system is still running without complaint, but it’s only a matter of time before it will also fall.

Unfortunately, with the ever-increasing level of professional cyberterrorism it is no longer possible for non-specialists, even with in-depth knowledge, to navigate the Internet safely and offer content.

Therefore:
I will try to maintain the service here as far as possible – but it will probably not be possible to maintain my own cloud server.

This means the following in detail:

For now, the download tables, which until now have been based on the fantastic foo-table-plugin, will be converted to normal html, called Accordeon-Falter. The functionality for downloads and direct installation will be fully retained. Only the usability and loading speed suffers somewhat.
Why: The plugin has not been maintained for many years, I myself have adapted it twice to new php versions, but now it is over because a plugin that is not officially maintained is an extreme security risk.

Furthermore I will try to move the website to a normal website account at Hetzner to at least eliminate the hacks below the website on operating system level.
This will certainly mean a massive slowdown in loading speeds.

If this site is taken down (certainly not through my fault) please bookmark the direct download link on the GWDG server:
https://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/misc/openstreetmap/openandromaps/mapsV5/
If need be, you will also find a “read.me” with messages next to the maps

 

I have to admit that I’m getting a bit tired of the whole thing

 

Your Christian from OAM

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

/1 Comment/by
ChristianK

New Firewall and Spamshield

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I installed a new, very professional firewall with spam protection – its not free, but there’s no alternative.

A nice bonus is that the system is also GDPR-compliant – whatever you may think of that.

 

I hope that

a.) Life will become easier for us admins
and above all it
b.) there are no more annoying blockades of legitimate users, a situation that is/was very unpleasant for everyone.

The update plan for the maps this summer will be published separately.

So long,
Your OpenAndroMaps team

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

/0 Comments/by
ChristianK

Updates are done

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All maps are now re-rendered and available for download.

The Taiwan map has now also been updated, the programmer of the Mapsforge library was so kind to adapt the map writer to the enormous density of data there.

 

The next update will be available at the beginning of September.

 

For us the development of OpenAndroMaps is going on, there are plenty of things to think about.

 

We wish you a nice summer and pleasant trips with the OpenAndroMaps.

Greetings, Tobias, Michael, Christian

/3 Comments/by
ChristianK

New Maps / New Features

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And there we go,

 

As all those who have ever met me probably guessed, my sense of order is stronger than my frustration and I have written a script for the resolution of the screwed-up super routes and integrated it into the process.

 

And because I enjoyed that typing so much, I changed the generation of the REFs (= short names of the routes).
Until now, the REF – if there were capital letters in the NAME and no REF-Value – was formed from these.
So e.g. “West Coast Trail” = WCT
Unfortunately, there are also relations which, especially in Scandinavia, had the path name_+vegur +vegen etc. in the NAME. This ended up in a REF that only consisted of the first capital letter.

From now on, the capital letters only become effective when at least TWO of them are recognised.
If there is only one capital letter, the first 5 letters of the NAME are used to form the REF.
So “Fjärilsleden” was REF=”F” until now, from now on REF=”Fjäri” – looks much, much better.

 

I did allow myself a new POI, namely the “E” charging stations relevant for EBikes without the obligation to consume (Pub,Restaurant…).
These can be found in the POIs under hike/bike, I think this is also of interest to one or two of you.
Here is the exact implementation: https://www.openandromaps.org/oam-forums/topic/ebike_charging_public-2

 

Perspective: In the course of the discussion about the ICN/IWN + super routes, it came up again that the “big” routes cover the small, local cycling/walking routes too often – we are currently discussing possibilities to switch off the international routes, but this is an essential intervention in the structure of the maps and must be considered = this will take a little time.

 

So, I wish you a pleasant Summer

Best regards,
Christian

/8 Comments/by
ChristianK

Updates suspended

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Dear OAM community,

 

I am forced to suspend further updates of the maps = there will be no more updates for the time being.

Reason: A mapper has begun to “normalise” hierarchies of wheel relations that have been carefully maintained over the years.
This means that the previously common consensus – that the individual cycle relations, such as the Eurovelo routes, consisted of a hierarchy of main (super) relations with individual sub-relations (the countries), each containing all the necessary information – has been destroyed.

Now there are super-relations that are based on other super-relations, relations that cross-reference other relations, etc….
Unfortunately, this cannot be resolved with the hand-programmed tools of the OAM for the time being, as there is no way to resolve the possible cross-nesting of the super/relations 100% conclusively.

For the time being, the Scandinavian maps are affected – but it is foreseeable that this cancer will spread further.

Up to now, I have been able to iron out such improvements to the OSM database relatively quickly and without any major complaints, but now it’s time to take a break.

 

I am real terrible sorry for the community, my comrades-in-arms @Tobias and @Michael and all those who have contributed to this project in any other way, but at the moment I have reached the point where I simply don’t want to chase after every nonsense like Don Quixote against windmills.

Should something similar to quality control be introduced to OpenStreetMap at some point, I would be happy to become active again.

 

Have a nice summer
Your Christian

PS: Of course I will remove the donate buttons.

/19 Comments/by
ChristianK

No longer need for “downloads.openandromaps.org”

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The download.openandromaps.org has been disabled and should not be necessary anymore since all links lead directly to the actual download server
https://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/misc/openstreetmap/openandromaps/

This subdomain was a relic from the early days of OpenAndroMaps before the University in Göttingen took over the hosting of the maps. In those days the download sources changed regularly (Megaupload, GDrive, etc..) and to provide a constant URL the downloads.openandromaps.org was set up – which itself never hosted any files but only forwarded to the actual hosters.
With GWDG as our longtime, free!!! map hoster, the subdomain has not been needed for quite some time.
If GWDG should ever withdraw their support for the OSM project, there is no alternative anyway, since the monthly traffic volume for OAM alone is in the terrabyte range.

So, no more downloads.openandromaps.org.

Please just use the links from the website and update your bookmarks

If any links on the OAM website are dangling in the air and still point to downloads.openandromaps.org – please post a message.

 

LG, Christian

 

/0 Comments/by
ChristianK

OAM-Forum slow..

Unfortunately, the loading times for the non-cached part of the OAM website have been indisputably slow for about a week.
This is partly due to a much higher number of hack attempts (greetings to St. Petersburg – I hope the weather is pleasant).

I am currently working with the hoster on a solution that will be fast AND easy to administer again.

Until then, please bear with me…..

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