[ekr]

I don't know how you arrived to that conclusion. OSM's success, popularity is determined largely by the quality of its service compared to other providers, which in turn determines the amount of user contribution. By allowing Google/Apple to use this data, their marginal value in relation to OSM increases, which in turn disincentivizes potential users from using OSM, thus making the project less popular.

Google/Apple already benefit from superior distribution/marketing, but lack in quality (at least in geo-data, many have reported OSM to have more roads, better coverage. Most of the paths, trails in the forests and mountains where I live are covered by OSM, which is why I use OSM while mountain-biking. Google is far from reaching that. Others have reported similar findings.)

Thus, as I see it, OSM is giving away for free its main superiority.

(Alas, in the name of the Church of Emacs, OSM, stop this non-sense).