lut.im service discontinued => Implement image upload feature OSM-wide? (Ruby)

[westnordost]

So the service we used to upload the note images was discontinued. Man, the services StreetComplete is relying on are really crumbling left and right since 2018. I changed the URL to framapic.org for now, but looking at the statistics it is a much smaller instance.
My guess is that lut.im was discontinued because it was exploited. I don't think that StreetComplete would put a heavy load on framapic.org but if whoever made lut.im being discontinued through exploitation changes to framapic, this will not be a sustainable solution for image upload.

The most sustainable solution would be to have this feature directly as part of the OSM notes feature. Perhaps the OSM core team would accept a PR that would extend the notes feature with an image upload?

I am putting this on "help wanted", perhaps someone within StreetComplete community feels inspired to suggest and contribute such a feature to the OSM core, it would certainly be very helpful much beyond the scope of this project because until now, notes left by (anonymous) users had to be independently verified. If those users are now able to add a "photo proof", it can be very useful in resolving notes.
The OSM website is written in Python Ruby.

[rugk]

/cc @ldidry – admin of lut.im

Alos moving my question from f2ab272#commitcomment-28688748 better here now:

BTW @ldidry why did you continue the service? I hope it's not, because StreetComplete user's overloaded it…

[matkoniecz]

The OSM website is written in Python.

Are you sure? From looking at https://github.com/openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website it seems to be Ruby, with RoR as the framework.

[westnordost]

Oops, you are right. I only remembered it to be written in a sleek form, so I thought "gotta be Python". I guess Ruby is even sleeker. Corrected.

[rugk]

I changed the URL to framapic.org for now, but looking at the statistics it is a much smaller instance.

That's interesting, because Framapic is actually a "big" French non-profit and not a personal project of some of their developers (I think). As such, it should hopefully survive. However, BTW, did you actually ask Framasoft whether you can use their service?

Perhaps the OSM core team would accept a PR that would extend the notes feature with an image upload?

Oh, that's a "think big" view here, but that's good. I like that idea. Maybe create an issue on https://github.com/openstreetmap/operations, if that is the right place(?)?

[westnordost]

However, BTW, did you actually ask Framasoft whether you can use their service?

No, not yet. I also did not find any information on terms of use or similar (and it's all in French).

[matkoniecz]

I found openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website#395 - it was proposed already in 2013.

[westnordost]

I figure there would be a reaction if someone actually offered to implement it and create a PR for it because right now, it is just a feature request, one of many other nice-to-have things.

[matkoniecz]

Yeah, that is more likely to result in some reaction.

[ldidry]

Hello,

Sorry for discontinuing the service without warning, I forgot that you used it.

It's not because of you that I'm shutting down the upload but because of the troubles it caused me: the CEPH storage was pretty instable (at the end, it disconnected from the server every day). Some users contacted me each time the images were unavailable (by mail, XMPP, Gitlab issues… event by commenting commits in Gitlab!). And I frequently received informations requests about uploaders from anti-drug police units.

Too much trouble for me.

[ldidry]

I would happily maintain a Lutim instance for you if you have a server where to put it.

[rugk]

Maybe an instance only for StreetComplete? (which would require some API key support)

[westnordost]

To my experience, running a Perl application on a shared hosting webspace is always problematic, so I am trying to avoid having to maintain it on my webspace. In that regard, @ldidry thank you for the offer, but if I put it on my webspace, I would admin it myself, following the instructions in the wiki, because I'd probably have some back and forth with the support whether they could install this and that Perl module and so forth.
Good to know that StreetComplete played no role in the shutdown of the service. I think it is relatively save to leave it on framapic.org for now. I am leaving this ticket open for volunteers regarding implementing an image upload OSM-wide.

[westnordost]

It looks like such a feature couldn't/shouldn't be implemented for the time being because the OWG is busy with moving the server infrastructure. Also, there are concerns about possible exploitation, moderation and liability, see openstreetmap/operations#206.

In that case, I will close this issue as framapic.org looks like a stable solution for now and the feature will not be implementable OSM-wide for now.