Writing
Notes on maps, the web, and whatever I have been taking apart lately.
Parchment devlog · Part 5
Where Parchment stands, and what is left
Parchment is in closed alpha behind a waitlist. Here is what works, what is still being built, and what has to be true before I let more people in.
Parchment devlog · Part 4
The subsystem that became a product
The free APIs were not too expensive. They were unchangeable. Building my own geospatial engine split the architecture in two, and the half that holds no personal data turned out to be a business.
Parchment devlog · Part 3
Turning map providers into an interface
Parchment stopped asking which service to call and started asking which job needs doing. The idea came from Home Assistant, and it changed how every feature after it got designed.
Parchment devlog · Part 2
Where Parchment started
The goal was a maps app that is private, self-hostable and free, built on open data. The free public endpoints were not a shortcut around that goal. They were the goal.
Parchment devlog · Part 1
How I built a maps app on open data
What Parchment is, who it is for, and the four commitments it runs on. The rest of the series is how far that has actually got.