Desert Atlas, a self-hosted OpenStreetMap app for Sandstorm
Hi all, This project release is a long time coming. It was a big uphill battle, and by far my largest endeavor so far. I built it for Sandstorm because I believe in Sandstorm's model, and I wanted to show that there's still life and potential in it. If you're inspired, joining our OpenCollective would be really helpful: https://opencollective.com/sandstormcommunity (keeping in mind that Sandstorm has now moved from its original leadership to a community project https://sandstorm.org/news/2023-11-03-from-io-to-org). You can also join our mailing list or…
Desert Atlas, a self-hosted OpenStreetMap app for Sandstorm launched on December 5, 2023 with 101 votes, #576 of 3,780 launches that month and more than 90% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 2 years on.
In plain words
Desert Atlas is a self-hosted map application built on OpenStreetMap data, designed to run on Sandstorm, a platform for self-hosted web applications. It allows users to host their own map service independently. The application is intended for developers and users who prefer self-hosted solutions and want to maintain control over their mapping infrastructure.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
Take control of your web by running your own personal cloud server with Sandstorm.
Hi, my name is Dan . This is my first time posting on the Sandstorm blog. I got involved with Sandstorm almost a decade ago. I imagined a day when open data would be easily deployed via Sandstorm onto a mesh network (a lofty goal, I know), so I created a package for an existing application called Kiwix for easy hosting of sites like Wikipedia. I still have this vision in mind. Today, I’m announcing the result of a more ambitious effort. Sandstorm, meet OpenStreetMap . OpenStreetMap, meet Sandstorm. Desert Atlas is the world map for Sandstorm. With Desert Atlas, you can privately collaborate with friends to search for destinations and save them as bookmarks for use on the go. You may be…from sandstorm.org
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hi all, This project release is a long time coming. It was a big uphill battle, and by far my largest endeavor so far. I built it for Sandstorm because I believe in Sandstorm's model, and I wanted to show that there's still life and potential in it. If you're inspired, joining our OpenCollective would be really…
Does a similar job
all alternatives →- OOOpenFreeMap – Open-Source Map Hosting2024 · openfreemap.org · ▲848
Hi HN, After 9 years of running my own OpenStreetMap tile server infra for MapHub (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11389989), I've open-sourced it and launched OpenFreeMap. You can either self-host or use our public instance. Everything is open-source, including the full production setup — there’s no 'open-core' model here. Check out the repo (https://github.com/hyperknot/openfreemap). The map data comes from OpenStreetMap. I also provide weekly full planet downloads both in Btrfs and MBTiles formats. I aim to cover the running costs of the public…
Every mountain, building and tree shadow mapped for any date and time2024 · shademap.app · ▲685I've been working on this project for about 4 years. It began as terrain only because world wide elevation data was publicly available. I then added buildings from OpenStreetMap (crowd sourced) and more recently from Overture Maps data. Some computer vision/machine learning advancements [1] in the past few years have made it possible to estimate tree canopy heights using satellite imagery alone making it possible to finally add trees to the map. The data isn't perfect, but it's within +/- 3 meters of so. Good enough to give a general idea for any location on Earth. Happy to answer…
- SHSelf-Hosted Maps Stack2022 · maps.ellenhp.me · ▲213
Over the past week I built a project to let people self-host an entire maps stack so they don't have to send data to the big G. Right now it includes a base map, geocoder and directions server. Currently only bicycle directions are supported, and I'm only hosting tiles for Seattle because I'm unemployed and can't afford to host data for the whole planet. Check it out! https://maps.ellenhp.me/ https://github.com/ellenhp/headway Ultimately I'd like to really focus on transit routing (not implemented) but I'll probably throw a driving mode in there too.
Flatmap – a new tool to make vector tiles from OpenStreetMap data fast2021 · github.com · ▲158Flexible tool to build planet-scale vector tilesets from OpenStreetMap data fast - onthegomap/planetiler
- SPSandstorm Personal Cloud Platform Demo2014 · sandstorm.io · ▲88
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