• Jhex@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    I throw a lot of shit at Google but Google Maps is the best piece of software they have ever created

    Agreed but that is not really saying much considering Google’s resources and how often the fuck everything up

    because there ain’t no way I am going out to volunteer for free to map out my neighbourhood accurately.

    because you enjoy corporate oversight and ads? or because you don’t see the benefit to you personally?

    • sonofearth@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      because you enjoy corporate oversight and ads? or because you don’t see the benefit to you personally?

      Bruh. Everything doesn’t have to be political. I simply don’t have the time, energy and willingness to learn and contribute to a project which people in my community are not even going to use. The incentive simply isn’t their for anyone when there is already a perfectly working solution—as much as I hate to say—from Google. I wish OSM and the maps & navigation apps using it were more popular and better but they aren’t simply because they don’t have dedicated teams.

      Google Maps also get contributions from the community (which is much larger than OSM). So google benefits from volunteer contributions as well as their own teams mapping stuff around the world which OSM can never match. It isn’t something like Search, Drive or Photos that can be replaced by a community driven FOSS alternative. It requires huge funding.

      • Jhex@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        The incentive simply isn’t their for anyone when there is already a perfectly working solution—as much as I hate to say—from Google

        So you enjoy corporate oversight and ads? or at least they don’t bother you enough to seek alternatives?. It’s not political, I am spelling out what you seem to be trying to avoid saying.

        I wish OSM and the maps & navigation apps using it were more popular and better but they aren’t simply because they don’t have dedicated teams.

        But you don’t wish it enough to contribute in any way…

        Google Maps also get contributions from the community (which is much larger than OSM). So google benefits from volunteer contributions as well as their own teams mapping stuff around the world which OSM can never match. It isn’t something like Search, Drive or Photos that can be replaced by a community driven FOSS alternative. It requires huge funding.

        I think you are just doubling down on this to convince yourself that it is not that you are being selfish here, you are just being smart by not choosing a losing battle you made up in your head.