Gnome Maps is now available thanks to Mapbox

A few days ago we found out that one of the most interesting Gnome apps was crashing due to the disappearance of a map service. I am referring to Gnome Maps, a Gnome add-on that allowed free access to maps, without having to access Google Maps or use strange applications to have shortcuts to this application on the desktop.

Gnome Maps was using the API of a service called MapQuest which stopped working. This represented a serious problem for Gnome Maps that even made it stop being in the stable versions of the distributions, among others Ubuntu Gnome 16.10.

Finally and after the announcement of this fall, the developers of Gnome Maps have found a quick and easy solution. A) Yes, Gnome Maps will start using MapBox, a service that is friendly to the Free Code that uses an API similar to MapQuest and that will allow you to have the same with just changing and updating a reference.

Mapbox is the service used but Wikipedia could shed light on this related mystery about Gnome Maps

In future updates the use of the Mapbox API by Gnome Maps will be polished, but we can already say that the service is enabled again and that users will be able to use Gnome Maps in a normal way. It also ensures the continuation of the app inside the famous desktop which already represents a standard not only in Ubuntu but also in the Gnu / Linux world.

In spite of everything, in spite of the happy news, Mapbox will not be or it seems that it will not be the definitive service on which Gnome Maps is based. Several candidates have applied to offer their services to this application, including Wikipedia itself that has offered its map service to be able to use in Gnome Maps. The effects of the Community are amazing, some effects that make a project that was almost finished revive again with a little help and dissemination Do not you think?