OSM Operations

Yes and No. No because the official OSM tile layer is heavily subsidized by Fastly (€720k last I checked) and rendering by AWS (€40k) Yes because technically it would use fewer resources thus easier on AWS+Fastly and also easier to self-host In last risk assessment I read closely(1) OSM noted "If we lost [Fastly] sponsorship, we would likely cut off all third-party access to the standard tile layer and run a small number of Varnish servers." As I understand it, primary drivers for vectors was not cost more improving internationalization, generally enabling client-side rendering decisions, and driving a modern toolchain that would net multiple follow-on benefits I'm a bit behind, there is more recent info available at (2) 1.https://operations.osmfoundation.org/2024/01/25/owg_budget.ods 2. https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Finances

The OSM Foundation has been serving raster tiles for years and years (that's what's visible by default on the slippy map at www.openstreetmap.org): https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenStreetMap_Carto After on and off experimentation by various contributors, OSMF just released vector tiles as well: https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/vector/

Likely refers to using the OSM maintained servers "be aware that the service runs on donated servers and has a very limited capacity" https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/nominatim/

It's the default OpensStreetMap style, which was never intended as a cartographic basemap for visualizations. Its purpose is to facilitate editing of the underlying data... but it's also one of the "free" options out there and integrated into most map library examples. ("free" because it's community-supported and heavy usage is discouraged, https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/)

In case you haven't already read the TOS for the OpenStreetMap tile servers, they are here: https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/

From what I can find, CARTO does not have a free map tile server. In other words, while it technically works, I think it's against their terms of service. They probably don't care if you're small, so I wouldn't worry about legal threats, but at some point the tile server might check the referer and break your app. It looks like you can just use OpenStreetMap instead, although the resources are donated so there is no guaranteed Service Level Agreement: https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/

OpenStreetMap tile servers aren't really meant to be used for this. They do allow some use, but are also subject to throttling if your application puts too much load on their servers. > However, OpenStreetMap’s own servers are run entirely on donated resources. They have strictly limited capacity. Heavy use of OSM tiles adversely affects people’s ability to edit the map, and is an abuse of the individual donations and sponsorship which provide hardware and bandwidth. As a result, we require that users of the tiles abide by this tile usage policy. https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/

Just keep in mind while there is no API key required for OSM's Nominatum, there are no guarantees and they explicitly discourage bulk geocoding, with no clarification on what is bulk. [1] The lack of clarification seems intentional, which is understandable. geocode-sqlite does support non-OSM hosted instances of Nominatum so find an alternative if you have large or regular geocoding tasks. [1] https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/nominatim/

Wikipedia? They have plenty funds to sustain their infra and core team to maintain it. What about all the (big) freeloaders who use OpenStreetMap Foundation's map tile server infrastructure [1] instead of self-hosting as it was intended [2](or using a SaaS)? All the corporate sponsors who fund OSMF [3] roll their own map stack, but outside of them still there occasionally appears a rogue app/website with high traffic. IIRC, most of the tile server traffic comes from outside of osm.org. [1] https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/ [2] https://switch2osm.org/ [3] Who still are controversial for their constant "bargaining" on how to put the copyright notice in the least visible way, even though it's required by ODbL license.

Leaflet.js is just the client piece. You still need a tile server, which is one of the commercial services being offered here. While you _can_ use the OSM's tile servers, they offer no guarantees: https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/ They also have ongoing operational problems/expenses from people using their tile servers, and it's possible that they will one day break you in order to keep their own site functioning.

OSM has only been running since 2004; tiles have never been served from d.tile.openstreetmap.org; and just because a volunteer-funded project doesn't want to provide you with unlimited free ponies/tiles doesn't mean the project is dying. The "rules and regulations" are at https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/ . The solutions are there at "Alternative OpenStreetMap Tile Providers".

The indication that it is "dying" is that they are blocking your server/app? They state pretty clearly that you should use your own tile server or use a commercial tile service if you are a heavy user: https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/api/ https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Commercial_OSM_Software_and_Servic…

No, but you can consider donating and if your app is popular, you should probably switch to a commercial tileserver such as mapbox. https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/

OSM is a dataset. That's free and open. There are different tile servers (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tile_servers) but they each have a different policy (https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/) In a nutshell: you can't just use them in production for your app. Development shouldn't be a problem. What you're talking about is precisely the commercial service that Mapbox offers. OSM (+ some extra stuff). Alternatively, you're free to spin up your own tile server. That way you don't pay anyone else (but you pay your server).

AFAIK, OSM is not happy when you use their tile servers for large commercial projects like DDG[0], so DDG would have to run, maintain and update that whole infrastructure themselves. For a service of their size it would probably require at least a dedicated engineer. With Apple Maps, they just have to include some JavaScript and Apple deals with all of that. [0] https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/

It's not free as in you are not allowed to use OSM tiling servers for commercial purposes. "OpenStreetMap’s own servers are run entirely on donated resources. They have strictly limited capacity. [...] OpenStreetMap data is free for everyone to use. Our tile servers are not." [1]. They've even banned some sites for abusing their servers, e.g., FastPokeMap in 2016 [2]. But there is a very clear way of switching to OSM and serving your own map tiles with any styling you want [3]. I personally think that startups like these should go for these options since their user base is concentrated in one region. [1] https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/ [2] https://github.com/openstreetmap/chef/pull/78 [3] https://switch2osm.org/serving-tiles/

This is what stops me: "OpenStreetMap data is free for everyone to use. Our tile servers are not." https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/

Wonder if lots of people will jump to OpenStreetMap without realizing their open tile servers aren't a free-for-all? https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/

I guess it depends on how you define "heavy use". According to their policy, you should not distribute any application that uses their tile server. https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/