[postgis-users] Osmosis or osm2pgsql

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

On 02/03/2012 03:49 AM, mdoakes42 at verizon.net wrote:
> Hello, could someone explain the.difference between using osmosis and
> osm2pgsql to load osm data. Which is better, easier to load, more
> efficient, etc. Most of our queries are nearest neighbor type, and
> general map displays. Thanks

You will get more in-depth answers on one of the OSM mailing lists 
(lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osm-dev) or on help.openstreetmap.org.

There's a third, recent addition to the canon of importers and that's 
called "imposm".

osm2pgsql and imposm are geared towards creating useful geometry tables, 
whereas osmosis is more geared towards truthfully representing a full 
OSM data set. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. 
osm2pgsql is the standard choice for most people making maps, with 
imposm gaining ground. Major difference between them is that osm2pgsql 
can do updates whereas imposm requires you to drop and reimport. OTOH 
imposm will create a richer table structure that is easier to understand.

Be advised that any of the tools mentioned will take between one and 
several days to import a world-wide dataset even on a reasonably fast 
machine.

Bye
Frederik