1063572 - Create Geoclue2 Location provider

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Core :: DOM: Geolocation, enhancement)

Description

[:garvan]

+++ This bug was initially created as a clone of Bug #485472 +++

Geoclue2 is a D-Bus service that provides geolocation, and uses MLS for network location:
https://developer.gnome.org/platform-overview/stable/tech-geoclue2.html.en

As D-Bus service, the provider can be queried at runtime, and if not present, fallback to the default provider.

Comment 1

[Zeeshan Ali]

FYI, it's now easier to interface with Geoclue2 if you don't mind a dep on glib/gio:

http://zee-nix.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/geoclue-convenience-library-just-got.html
http://www.freedesktop.org/software/geoclue/docs/libgeoclue/GClueSimple.html

Comment 2

[:garvan]

Marking inactive due to the length of inactivity here, feel free to re-open if you wish this to remain active.

Comment 3

[Erik Jensen]

Doesn't look like I have permission to re-open, but I'd love to see this or some alternatively to allow integrating with any system geolocation methods I have set up, such as a Bluetooth GPS.

Comment 4

[Maciej S. Szmigiero]

I do have a Geoclue2 geolocation provider for gecko-dev right now and have been using it in Firefox for a few weeks now.

This provider is purely (G)D-Bus based, so it doesn't need any additional external library as a dependency.
I envision it as a system-wide geolocation source, much like the ones that Firefox already uses on Windows, Mac OS or Android platforms.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that I will be able to find enough time to go through a formal review process with this patch before this year winter holiday break.

Comment 5

[Maciej S. Szmigiero]

Attachment: Bug 1063572 - Geoclue2 geolocation provider. r=emilio

Add a Geoclue (version 2) geolocation provider.

This way Firefox can make use of multiple location sources present in the
system, from GNSS provided by a cellular modem or the current network to
location based on visible WiFi networks and 3G tower data, all while
sharing them with other applications.

This is a pure D-Bus-based implementation using a proper state machine, it
does not require any additional dependencies.

Comment 6

[Maciej S. Szmigiero]

By the way, WebKitGTK got Geoclue2 support already.

Comment 7

[Emilio Cobos Álvarez (:emilio)]

How does this compare to the portal service that was recently added for Flatpak and so on? Do we really need both?

Comment 8

[Maciej S. Szmigiero]

(In reply to Emilio Cobos Álvarez (:emilio) from comment #7)

How does this compare to the portal service that was recently added for Flatpak and so on? Do we really need both?

Portal service is a limited API for Flatpak containers that internally forwards to Geoclue. Without Flatpak runtime that API is not available.

In contrast to the portal provider this is a complete, native Geoclue API implementation on a state machine (for handling corner cases, etc.) for use in a standalone Firefox.

Comment 9

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/39b20dac431b
Geoclue2 geolocation provider. r=emilio

Comment 10

[Atila Butkovits]

Backed out for causing bustages at GeoclueLocationProvider.

Backout link: https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/7f6113218f5598eafb379c8d0968fd3976c746f9

Push with failures: https://treeherder.mozilla.org/jobs?repo=autoland&selectedTaskRun=R_GVMys9T1OFOzXxE1ci_g.0&resultStatus=testfailed%2Cbusted%2Cexception&classifiedState=unclassified&revision=39b20dac431b40d84718ec2080563084506df19d

Failure log: https://treeherder.mozilla.org/logviewer?job_id=378119283&repo=autoland&lineNumber=178368

Comment 11

[Emilio Cobos Álvarez (:emilio)]

Sylvestre, do you know why reviewbot didn't complain about the static analysis issue in the phab revision? I'm pretty sure it used to do that in the past.

Comment 12

[Sylvestre Ledru [:Sylvestre]]

Marco and Andi should know better now

Comment 13

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/7357f3be9f82
Geoclue2 geolocation provider. r=emilio

Comment 14

[Cosmin Sabou [:CosminS]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/7357f3be9f82

Comment 15

[Andi [:andi]]

There is an intermittent issue with code-review events, and it doesn't notify Phabricator, we are tracking this in github.