! Please note that this is a snapshot of our old Bugzilla server, which is read only since May 29, 2020. Please go to gitlab.xfce.org for our new server !
[Feature] Geoclue
Status:
RESOLVED: LATER
Severity:
enhancement
Product:
Xfce4-weather-plugin
Component:
General

Comments

Description Raphael Groner 2013-05-04 20:57:41 CEST
Since the http geolocation service seems to be broken for some people. Use (optionally) geoclue [*] to automatically detect the current location to use for forecast.

Geoclue is a modular geoinformation service built on top of the
D-Bus messaging system. The goal of the Geoclue project is to
make creating location-aware applications as simple as possible.

See also bug #8983 and bug #8151.

[*] http://geoclue.freedesktop.org/
Comment 1 Harald Judt 2013-05-05 11:07:25 CEST
(In reply to comment #0)
> Since the http geolocation service seems to be broken for some people. Use
> (optionally) geoclue [*] to automatically detect the current location to use
> for forecast.

Evidence? No bugs reported about people having problems with this. Bug #8151 was found to be a problem with server-side configuration and this has already been fixed last summer.

> Geoclue is a modular geoinformation service built on top of the
> D-Bus messaging system. The goal of the Geoclue project is to
> make creating location-aware applications as simple as possible.
> 
> See also bug #8983 and bug #8151.
> 
> [*] http://geoclue.freedesktop.org/

Of course, this method of detection may be inaccurate or fail by nature. Note that using the geolite database is only a better than nothing solution, allowing quick setup. Users are encouraged to use the search function. Geolite and host-based IP detection will not be able to compete with the search function in accuracy. Certainly, I will not replace the current solution (a simple http request requiring no additional dependencies) with geoclue only for one-time setup.

The other use case boils down to location auto-tracking. This might be useful for some people using laptops who always want to see weather information for their current location. For this, the plugin would need to be adapted properly. The question is: Is it worth it? How many users would use this? I have no software using geoclue on my laptop, and no information about the accuracy achievable on such a machine. Laptops don't have GPS devices like smartphones or tablets, so they can usually only use host-IP based detection. However, if auto-tracking is ever to be implemented, geoclue will certainly be the way to go, so thanks for your suggestion.
Comment 2 Raphael Groner 2013-05-05 22:37:43 CEST
(In reply to comment #1)
...
> Bug #8151
> was found to be a problem with server-side configuration and this has
> already been fixed last summer.

Really? I wonder how the automatism can be enabled after another fixed location was set manually. And the URL changed from ...archive... to soemthing else.

... 
> Certainly, I will not replace the current
> solution (a simple http request requiring no additional dependencies) with
> geoclue only for one-time setup.

Sure. It's up to the developers to decice what feature to implement. No problem so far. But what against the requested *optional* feature to use other geo services?

> The other use case boils down to location auto-tracking. This might be
> useful for some people using laptops who always want to see weather
> information for their current location.

+1

> For this, the plugin would need to
> be adapted properly. The question is: Is it worth it? 

Yes. That patch shouldn't be so difficult, believe me.

You could also look into the source of claws-mail's plugin to use geolocation. [OT: Claws-mail claims to be lightweight and has a lot of plugins anyways.]
Comment 3 Harald Judt 2014-11-03 07:55:27 CET
I will think about this when developing the next version. Closed for the time being.

Bug #10064

Reported by:
Raphael Groner
Reported on: 2013-05-04
Last modified on: 2014-11-03

People

Assignee:
Harald Judt
CC List:
2 users

Version

Version:
unspecified

Attachments

Additional information