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@utf_7 @felixcremer the easiest way to calculate this is to use the Haversine distance, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haversine_formula
Outside of that nodes are placed where they are deemed necessary to replicate the geometry of the objects. Naturally a rendering on a map can smooth that out if the designer wants to (most don't though).
@felixcremer @utf_7 I didn't mention this, but should have: prior to OSM API 0.5 (October 2007) objects were not versioned, the original "node 1" was deleted prior to that date and therefore doesn't actually exist in the current OSM data at all. The current "node 1" is a reuse of the old id IIRC.
@felixcremer @utf_7 because you are looking at version 43 of the node which has been subject to redaction (licence change), vandalism, and simply buggy software over 20+ years https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/1/history#map=18/1.999999/2.000000
