GNOME Maps Is Looking Better In GNOME 3.20

[phoronix]

Phoronix: GNOME Maps Is Looking Better In GNOME 3.20

While not yet as versatile as say Google Maps, GNOME Maps for GNOME 3.20. is looking to be a nice upgrade...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=GNOME-3.20-Maps-Feb

[uid313]

The advantage of OpenStreetMap is that it is much more detailed and comprehensible than rivals such as Google Maps.

The disadvantage with OpenStreetMap is that the colors are awful and confusing. In Google Maps it colors waters and grass fields in good colors. In OSM its just confusing, weird colors that's hard to make any sense of.

The other advantage of Google Maps is that its easy to search for a location, while OSM doesn't handle locations that are not coordinates as good as Google Maps.

[Luke]

There is of course another advantage to using OpenStreetMap: It work without compromising your privacy. In my experience Google Maps won't work in Torbrowser, probably because they don't like adblocking and blocking their trackers. OpenStreetMap isn't ad supported, so they don't have issues with that and I have yet to see any evidence of tracking and selling user's personal information. With anything Google that sort of thing is a known fact and complex functionality is blocked or broken when that spying is blocked. If you don't like being spied on by the NSA, you should not use Google or Facebook either, as each of them does more mass surveillance than the NSA is likely to even be capable of.

OpenStreetMap is a great way to avoid having to drop your anti-tracking defenses, it's the only mapping site I've ever found that works when trackers and other malicious behavior are blocked. Mapquest is broken and Google maps too on my systems, even through Tor, OpenStreetMap works. Yes, you have to manually search for the area of a desired address, but that's a cheap price to pay for locking out the personal data harvest/sale networks. Where you travel is easily monetized and much desired by everyone from telemarketers to divorce lawyers to law enforcement.

[GraysonPeddie]

Google Maps has the ability to measure the length from place to place. Does GNOME Maps have the same capability as well?