[Wikipedia-l] Map drawing software

Fri Jan 14 19:06:54 UTC 2005

Magnus Manske wrote:

> For those of you interested in automatic map generation for MediaWiki, 
> check out the very first screenshot of my emerging "geo" software:
>    http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Geo

This question makes me regret that I don't have the technical skills to 
develop my own vision of a map project that would be subject to the 
principles of wiki editing, notably that anybody can edit any map. Thus:
    1. The 1-degree "square" is the fundamental building block of the 
world map.
    2. A map may be scaled, with smaller squares showing a greater level 
of detail.
    3. The simplest level of map does nothing more than answer whether 
that square is all land, all water, or mixed land and water.  This may 
even seem simplistic and too diagrammatic, but it would certainly let 
you know which squares need more work
    4. A map of any square would be built by adding a series of 
overlays.  These could be (among other things)
       a. Contour lines, including shore lines.
       b. Rivers and other aquatic features
       c. Cities, towns, villages and other communities.
       d. Political boundaries, both national and sub-national
       e. Transportation systems
       f. Special features
       g. Historical references, where clicking on the feature would 
take us to the Wikipedia article about the event that happened there.

If there is any one major criticism that I would have about the 
discussion of this topic so far, it's that it has been infected by a lot 
of in-the-box kind of thinking.  A map project has a far greater 
potential if we look at it from the ground up, and avoid the more 
limited popular focus on the role of maps.

Ec