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Hi, I dont know if its the right platform for this question ? Who has decided to use English as standard and on wich ground ? Most users, most speakers, largest population ? And why not Spanish or any other largerly used and widely spread lanquage ? Im curious, since we all use OSM and contribute to it ? I dont mind, Ill addept ?

asked 18 Jul '12, 11:11

Hendrikklaas's gravatar image

Hendrikklaas
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edited 17 Sep '12, 10:38

Jonathan%20Bennett's gravatar image

Jonathan Ben...
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OpenStreetMap was started in the UK by a native English speaker, and most of the first few people to get involved were in the UK. The next national community to get involved in OSM was Germany, and the Germans still set many standards for OSM participation.

The use of English for tag strings is mostly historical and practical, rather than a specific design decision. Everything else in OpenStreetMap should be internationalised and localised, so the web site, editors, etc. should all be available in any language for which there are people willing to do the translation.

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answered 18 Jul '12, 11:17

Jonathan%20Bennett's gravatar image

Jonathan Ben...
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edited 17 Sep '12, 10:38

Hi Jonathan, Thanks, okay Ill settle for the UK ground of OSM. I was born Dutch, so I use Dutch logical. Lets move on. Ps did we met before ? It seems your face with cap looks familiar, greetings.

(18 Jul '12, 14:16) Hendrikklaas

Google translate is excellent tool.

(17 Sep '12, 12:09) andy mackey

@andy-mackay it is, but I wouldn't want to discourage people from asking here in languages other than English - there are many native speakers of other languages here.

Even if people are using Google Translate to understand the question, it's better that the question is asked in the original language because the translation's interactive, and it allows the person reading the text to choose between possible translations. For example, the same word means "card", "menu" and "map" in several European languages; someone seeing the translation of a question would know that "map" is likely correct, but someone with no knowledge of English wouldn't know between "card", "menu" or "map".

(17 Sep '12, 13:39) SomeoneElse ♦

Good point.But I do find it great to get good idea (even if maybe confusing) of the questions in other languages.

(17 Sep '12, 14:10) andy mackey

Nevertheless your punished when yre using another language then usual (English). I was downgraded for using German when I wrote an answer in German. As green as a Newbie can be, I still had to anticipate to the countless rules written in WIKI and youre not able to find them, because you don’t have any idea where to look or even. Every old member (snr) would know but whom would ? Writing a short notice in another lanquage is fi enlighted by using the Word spelling utilitys. Greetz Hendrik

(17 Sep '12, 16:11) Hendrikklaas
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question asked: 18 Jul '12, 11:11

question was seen: 5,295 times

last updated: 17 Sep '12, 16:11

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum