That makes sense about uploading the GPS tracks. I keep all of my track files after I edit, so it won't be difficult to go ahead and upload them all.

I'm not talking about the traces, I'm talking about on the map itself. Ways are being added by people using JOSM and simply uploading their GPS track. Or they are possibly making the same mistake that I made with JOSM my first time too (which I corrected as soon as I realized what happened).

I loaded my GPS track into JOSM. I downloaded the map data for the area. I edited the existing road. I uploaded what was in my JOSM editor. When the map was re-rendered, I noticed that the road had its name alternating with "nn". I realized that I needed to delete my GPS "way" from JOSM after I edited the existing way before uploading to avoid this type of error. I asked a question about multiple ways being uploaded, but nobody seemed to know what I was talking about, so I figured it out on my own and corrected my mistake. Based on the response I got, I can only assume that most people don't believe that it can happen, or that OSM can tell when there are multiple ways and merge them automatically (which would be great! :) ).

Since I did that, I've seen several times where I've driven a route to get my GPS track to edit a way in JOSM. As I'm editing, I notice that an adjacent way has several ways uploaded. I think one I edited had 4 overlapped ways for the exact same physical road.

I don't upload my GPS tracks directly to OSM, I just use them to edit ways in JOSM and upload the edits. I also haven't traced from the Yahoo images either.

cool, then if that's the case, I still think there's a danger of people working on the graphic when a human has already mapped an area that has changed with a GPS.

I apologize for my earlier comments... I was a bit moody when I realized that hours of work had been completely discarded. I still wish everyone would do it the right way, but I'm not as upset about it as I was earlier.

my comments above are out of sequence... it looked like a server error.

If the photos are from Yahoo, then aren't those copyrighted? Isn't it against the OSM guidelines / rules that the map be based on ANY copyrighted information? So by aligning the OSM map with the Yahoo imagery, isn't that basing an "open" map on a copyrighted source? (I checked maps.yahoo.com, and their data comes from NAVTEQ, and they have a copyright 2009 by Yahoo, Inc. on the bottom of the map, so it appears to be copyrighted and private, not public and open)

I may be wrong, and if I am, that's ok, but I wouldn't align it with the images just for that reason.

Yes, I know consumer GPS is not perfectly accurate. Yes, I know that multiple paths are preferred and take the average. However, I do that editing in JOSM and upload the edit, not upload multiple tracks.

I know that my feeling about projects like this is not the normal, but when I got my GPS, and learned about OSM, I read all of the instructions before I made my first upload, and when I stared seeing multiple routes being uploaded for the same path, I started editing those areas to reduce it to a single "way".

If everyone would read the instructions, it would be isolated incidents.

From the OSM wiki regarding copyright: osm.wiki/Copyright

excerpt:

Do not use data from copyrighted maps or any other proprietary data! So copying, tracing or any act of reproduction of any copyrighted work is strictly prohibited.

That made me wonder why there's an aerial photo under the map, but I've refrained from using it.

I do apologize for being bothered so much by this, but this seems like people are completely disregarding the desire to produce a 100% "Open" map.

What happens if someone informs the Yahoo legal department that the OSM project is using their images for an open map project?

If the photos are from Yahoo, then aren't those copyrighted? Isn't it against the OSM guidelines / rules that the map be based on ANY copyrighted information? So by aligning the OSM map with the Yahoo imagery, isn't that basing an "open" map on a copyrighted source? (I checked maps.yahoo.com, and their data comes from NAVTEQ, and they have a copyright 2009 by Yahoo, Inc. on the bottom of the map, so it appears to be copyrighted and private, not public and open)

I may be wrong, and if I am, that's ok, but I wouldn't align it with the images just for that reason.

Yes, I know consumer GPS is not perfectly accurate. Yes, I know that multiple paths are preferred and take the average. However, I do that editing in JOSM and upload the edit, not upload multiple tracks.

I know that my feeling about projects like this is not the normal, but when I got my GPS, and learned about OSM, I read all of the instructions before I made my first upload, and when I stared seeing multiple routes being uploaded for the same path, I started editing those areas to reduce it to a single "way".

If everyone would read the instructions, it would be isolated incidents.

I just checked the online editor (edit tab), and sure enough... my trace was sitting there under the way that I edited.... I'll fix it this evening.

I guess I'll download the section from OSM today and see if my trace is still there. If it is, I'll remove it and save the changes. :) Simple enough.

I was just curious, because I've seen other places with one way directly on top of another way.

I do download the map data into JOSM, but I also load my GPS trace so that I can edit the map directly on top of my trace.

In other words, the OSM data and my trace are in JOSM at the same time. When I save my changes to the OSM map by clicking the upload button, does it upload my trace as well as the OSM data?

I don't add any data to my trace, I just leave it as a "way", so does OSM know to ignore ways that don't have any associated data?

Speaking of the JOSM editing interface... if a way already exists, and I'm editing it to make it more accurate (huge pieces of twisty road are straight), if I load my GPS trace into JOSM, and then modify the way to follow my trace, do I need to remove my trace before I save my changes back to OSM?

The reason I ask is because I was thinking about it yesterday as I rode my bicycle mapping bike paths on my way home that I've seen some places where there are two ways that are laying on top of each other. Is that what happens when you don't remove your trace before uploading?