In total, about 10 attempts to change the name of the Golf have returned to OpenStreetMap last week. Various contributors have argued that OSM must wait for common use in society to change before they process the main name of the Golf. “The primary goal of OSM is to show what people believe on the spot that is correct, striving for accuracy and neutrality in the light of different perspectives” without consensus.
A similar back and forth has taken place above Denali. But reaching agreement can be difficult. “I don't believe OSM will ever be able to choose one [name]Without insulting a user somewhere, “wrote an employee. “We need a path from this swamp that does not edit wars.”
Other contributors discussed if it would be appropriate to make the changes. Mapping providers, including Google, say that they follow the Geographic Namur Information System (GNIS) of the US Geological Survey, but that database has not yet been updated with the new names. Spokesperson Elizabeth Peace of the Interior Department refused to speculate about when USGS staff could process the updates.
According to a law of 1947, decisions about which geographical names the US government will use, be taken by the secretary of the interior and the board of directors on geographical names, or BGN, a panel of officials of a little government agencies. The GNIS is a repository of names approved by BGN.
From Tuesday at least one mentioned member of the BGN had not received any correspondence or records with regard to changing the name of the Golf, according to a request submitted by Wired under the Freedom of Information Act. This suggests either that the usual mechanisms are not switched on, or that another authority is exercised to change the official name. The spokesperson for the domestic department refused to comment.
Another point of uncertainty has been or the entire wave must be renamed. The president's order spoke to “the American continental shelf area bordered on the northeast, north and northwest by the States Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and extending to the seaweed boundary with Mexico and Cuba.”
But as a contribution to OpenStreetMap wrote: “The Gulf of Mexico is much larger than this. So instead of a rebuilding it seems, this executive order creates a new name for a sub -area of the Gulf of Mexico. “
The White House did not respond to Wired's request to clarify the intended limits for the new name. If the change applied to any non-US territory, the American national geospatial intelligence agency should update what is known as the Geographic Namen Server, a database with names for foreign locations. The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency refused to comment.
Mikel Maron, a spokesperson for the OpenStreetMap Foundation, who helps with the rise of volunteer efforts, says that the debate about the Trump order emphasizes the value of having an open community trying to represent the complexity of the world. For now their discussion continues. “Ultimately, the OSM Foundation Data Working Group intervened to keep major changes in the OSM database until things are clearer,” he says.
Snow, the member of the working group, says that the trending consensus leaves the Gulf of Mexico and Denali as the primary names and adds a label to the new official American name. But if Gulf or America works, the Open Source card may have to follow.
Additional reporting by Tim Marchman.
