After being kneecapped by a #patents troll years ago, #Mozilla Location Services, the only somewhat trusted (non-Google/Apple) "Wi-Fi positioning system" (geolocation based on triangulating collected #WiFi SSIDs), is now shutting down: https://github.com/mozilla/ichnaea/issues/2065
MLS was how #GeoClue could get a meters-accurate location without a #GPS receiver / sky line-of-sight.
It was used by many #GNOME / #KDE apps to get instantaneous neighborhood-level location (for maps, local weather…) on #Linux laptops.
@nekohayo Well, guess which service implements cellular network tower based positioning 🙃
It will be easier to replace than WiFi though. And yeah, there's GNSS, but it needs time and sky visibility.
@dos
"GNSS-share" sounds like the complement to GPSd and ModemManager to get A-GPS / get coarse location from cell towers triangulation using the baseband/cellular modem, no? Or is there nothing in the Linux middleware stack to get coarse location without sky line-of-sight?
@nekohayo The only thing gnss-share does is to export NMEA data over Unix socket for consumption by Geoclue, which then uses that data together with cell tower and WiFi positioning implemented by querying MLS (you can also configure it to use Google's service if you have Google API key). AGPS is a separate thing that speeds GPS fix up (otherwise it would take several minutes to acquire from cold start even in perfect conditions).
@dos I would have said so, and much more, but ran out of characters. I routinely finish my toots at exactly 0 characters left 🫥️
Also, at least those Linux phones presumably can have cellular network towers & satellite-based positioning, unlike desktops/laptops (unless you go through the hassle of connecting a USB or Bluetooth GPS receiver, but realistically, nobody does this unless you're a yachter, an explorer/expeditioner, or a solarpunk)…