[FOSS-GPS] An introduction and sourcing maps

[brian at wildsong.biz]

> I need only the text names of the places along with their longitude and
> latitude.

This sounds like you need a table of places and not a map display? Like, 
you want a list of places sorted by distance with the closest first?

On a Pi 5, I think running something like PostGIS would be overkill so I 
would build the list first for the area of interest on an 
Internet-connected computer and generate a spatialite database and put 
that on the Pi 5 and search that with a python script.

Regarding data sources besides OSM, there are many other services 
available, for example I live in Oregon I went to the geohub and typed 
"place names" and the "cities" service came up first. 
https://geohub.oregon.gov/search?q=place%20names
That's a subset derived from the National Map clipped to Oregon. Yes, I 
know you are _probably_ not my neighbor, just saying that I approach the 
problem by looking for services in the area of interest first.

I love Open Street Map and contribute to it regularly but if looking for 
point data (e.g. cities) it's not in a convenient format and I'd 
probably start with a cities dataset from some public agency instead.

Brian Wilson
Astoria Oregon