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Hey all!

I have a problem that, judging by previous posts, many here have had: A few months ago I created a personal uMap while not being logged in, prior to having created an account, and have since lost the right to edit the map (by deleting cookies at some point I guess).

I have read here that it would be possible to contact the administrator of the relevant uMap instance to regain access, but unlike, as far as I can tell, all other such requests with the umap tag on this forum, I have used the .de, not the .fr instance – for the latter there are plenty of pointers to the admin, ybon, but I find none for the .de instance. Is my understanding correct that the point of contact is a different one, and would someone be able to point me to them?

While the above is my main question, I have a follow-up, since I have only now realised that umap.openstreetmap.fr/de and umap.openstreetmap.de are different services. Silly question, maybe, but: Why is that so? Given that it seems the .fr instance is the original and sees far more usage, why does .de (and the other instances) exist? Are there any differences I should be aware of, i.e. is it possible that everything that is not the prevalent .fr will get shut down at some point and I'd lose my maps if I use .de? I have so far only found one, curious, difference between the two: The available custom labels for pins are different between those instances.

Cheers everybody for the help!

asked 12 Apr '20, 21:03

Ratatoskr's gravatar image

Ratatoskr
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To answer the first question: the German umap instance (actually the umap instance operated by FOSSGIS) is operated by FOSSGIS, see https://fossgis.de/ they should be able to put you in contact with the responsible person.

Wrt the 2nd question: the main difference is, no surprise, they are operated by different people, in different places, on different hardware. Further they will typically differ in some aspects of their configuration, for example the available background layers.

So for example the Swiss umap instance (which predates the German one by many years), has a number of background layers available that only cover Switzerland, which probably wouldn't be particularly popular on a German or French audience orientated service.

As with all of these things, nobody is giving you any guarantees with respect to continued operation. Volunteer projects (which to my knowledge all umap instances are) tend to have a better track record than your usual (US based) commercial undertakings that are not actually making money either, but as said there are no gurantees.

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answered 13 Apr '20, 00:41

SimonPoole's gravatar image

SimonPoole ♦
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accept rate: 18%

edited 13 Apr '20, 00:43

Thank you SimonPoole, that's really useful! I'll get in touch with them. :)

Regarding the differences, thanks for the detailed answer - makes sense. I went with the assumption that since the both go under the same name and url (minus the tld) and look basically identical they'd have to be operated by the same people - I only realised I had switched from one domain to the other when I couldn't find a test map I had made yesterday. So it is a surprise to me, with my limited knowledge of how the internet works. :D Very good to know.

Fully aware there are no guarantees for continued operation of any of these projects, not expecting any. That question was born out of my false understanding, per the above.

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answered 13 Apr '20, 21:11

Ratatoskr's gravatar image

Ratatoskr
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edited 13 Apr '20, 21:12

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question asked: 12 Apr '20, 21:03

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last updated: 13 Apr '20, 21:21

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