FreeGeoDB
Data
geographic place name database
SHOW HN2015
108points
52comments
#225of 2,565 in 2015
Top 9%of 2015 by points
How HN took it
RoastedHalf or more of the comments are critical
1 positive, 11 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 14 critical, out of 27 comments about the project. Thread score -0.39.
Execution: 0 for, 10 againstDocs: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Useful and helpful free dataset
From 1 comment
congratz, nice job! really interesting and helpful. I'll try to use it. nowadays I am using sollo atlas (which is used by the http://www.findmyninja.io):…
vezzoni on HN
Objections
Character encoding errors in place names
From 3 comments
First three norwegian cities I looked up was given the wrong name. (Plesund (should be Ålesund), Bodi (Bodø) and Tdnsberg (Tønsberg)). So, I think it is safe to say that there…
Quai on HNThere's definitely something wrong. Looking at the SQL file, "Zürich" is listed as "Zdrich", Munich is only shown as "Munich" without the German name "München" anywhere, and…
bhaak on HNFrench names have the same problem, with "La Réunion" being shown as "La Rcunion" and "Rhône-Alpes" as "RhAne-Alpes". It's strange, I can't really understand how these accents…
seszett on HN
Data appears to be Natural Earth repackaged, with source unclear
From 3 comments
So this is bascially Natural Earth repacked as JSON, CSV and SQL? It's a nice start. I like it. Would it be possible to add the programm /instructions you used for converting the…
Vespasian on HNActually, according to the resource-file is isn't Natural Earth after all. The column-names almost fit the NE-Datasaet though...
maze-le on HNThe SOURCE.md file only lists Natural Earth.
anc84 on HN
Apache licence is inappropriate for data and conflicts with ODbL sources
From 2 comments
"RESOURCES.md" ( https://github.com/delight-im/FreeGeoDB/blob/master/RESOURCES.md ) includes OpenStreetMap, which is licenced under the Open Database Licence (ODbL). You cannot…
rmc on HNApache seems a strange license for data. Why not CC-0 like for instance wikidata?
legulere on HN
No update or provenance information
From 2 comments
How will this be kept up-to-date?
electriclove on HNYeah, a quick perusal (VERY quick) revealed no provenance, maintenance, or currency information. There's a lot more to data than a snapshot of some tables.
spacemanmatt on HN
Requests
Provide build scripts to reproduce the dataset
From 2 comments
So this is bascially Natural Earth repacked as JSON, CSV and SQL? It's a nice start. I like it. Would it be possible to add the programm /instructions you used for converting the…
Vespasian on HNInstead of Markdown file, you should consider creating a set of scripts that will fetch, cache and process upstream data into the desired formats. As someone interested in using…
lobster_johnson on HN
Add PostGIS SQL version and proper geometry columns
From 2 comments
So this is bascially Natural Earth repacked as JSON, CSV and SQL? It's a nice start. I like it. Would it be possible to add the programm /instructions you used for converting the…
Vespasian on HNFor what I've seen the data type of the columns is always varchar and not geometry. Not a big issues merely it's more convenient otherwise ;)
Vespasian on HN
Add road and railroad names
From 1 comment
This would have been useful if the railroads and roads actually had names attached to them.
aembleton on HN
Use GeoJSON or lon/lat columns
From 2 comments
unfortunately, while it is in JSON, it is not in GEOJSON, nor anything that appears to be standard. at least the points are in WKT, so should be able to be converted into…
jerrysievert on HNThere are free airport lists that are much more complete. Also, two columns (lon, lat) for points would be better, as it's much easier to transform "lon, lat" into "POINT(lon…
krick on HN
Questions
How will the data be kept up to date?
From 1 comment
How will this be kept up-to-date?
electriclove on HN
How does it compare to GeoNames?
From 1 comment
Looks interesting, how would you compare it to GeoNames?
IanCal on HN
Will historical boundary changes be tracked?
From 1 comment
Cool! Do you have any plans to track historical changes of geospacial areas? What reference frame are you using for labeling areas? (places America considers countries vs what…
mileszim on HN
Alternatives named
GeoNames
From 2 comments
The data like these are available for free (and updated by community!) for years. See http://www.geonames.org/ Numerous website use the Geonames dataset foe there work. (I also…
Crocode on HNLooks interesting, how would you compare it to GeoNames?
IanCal on HN
Natural Earth
From 1 comment
So this is bascially Natural Earth repacked as JSON, CSV and SQL? It's a nice start. I like it. Would it be possible to add the programm /instructions you used for converting the…
Vespasian on HN
Sollo atlas
From 1 comment
congratz, nice job! really interesting and helpful. I'll try to use it. nowadays I am using sollo atlas (which is used by the http://www.findmyninja.io):…
vezzoni on HN