Linux and Public Access Computing?

An Anonymous Coward asks: "The Seattle Community Technology Alliance is a non profit, federally funded, public/private project that supports community technology centers in the Seattle area. We are interested in moving our public workstations from Win 2000 to Linux. In order to do this, we need good multi-lingual options and the abiltiy to create 'guest accounts' that prevent users from changing settings (to provide a consistent environment for users). What are the best tools for multi-user Linux labs? Should we use KDE? Gnome? How do we keep users from changing settings? We are eager to start experimenting, but would appreciate expert advice on starting points!"

Comments

check the howto

[SkipFrizzell]

http://www.linux.org/docs/ldp/howto/Kiosk-HOWTO. html

I would start here.

-=Skip

First of all.

[TibbonZero]

Well, it seems that first of all you should really research Linux in general. I know that you are eager to get off of Win2K, but you should really make sure that everyone is well trained. Users too need to be trained, so that they aren't confused. You should read up on the permissions structure (and alternatives like Novell's E-Directory), and fully understand Linux before you go slapping it on everyone's boxes.
The reason I bring up this, is because from your question, it seems that you are new to Linux- in the fact that you don't know how to deny permissions, the differences between KDE and GNOME, guest accounts, etc.
So go get Linux, format your box, test it out!. Experienment, and try different Distros. I would sugest one without too much bloating, but that's my personaly opinion. You don't want people in the public to get a bad opinion of Linux because of messed up public Linux boxes.

check out the DNA lounge source code

[Anonymous Coward]

Check out http://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/src/kiosk/ for information about how they set up their Kiosks. It might give you some ideas for starting points, the have similar goals and an extremely "hostile" environment.

Wish I had your e-mail address

[Allnighterking]

If I did I'd tell you to contact another Gov funded project called SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) They have without a doubt the best linux setup for lab work you will ever see. The tools etc of course are available to you, free of charge, and the people who work there are more than just helpful. the URL is http://www.slac.stanford.edu/ to start checking them out. They run 2000 server clusters and are fast approaching 1 petabyte of data. So they do know there stuff. AND it's a Linux house to boot. Sometimes Gov funded orgs do it right and these are some people who prove this is true.

Check out jwz's solution.

[immanis]

Jamie Zawinski of mozilla and xscreensaver fame owns a nightclub in San Francisco called DNA Lounge.

He installed IRC, telnet, ssh and web enabled diskless linux kiosks for just this purpose. His code is available, as well as instructions on how he did it. It may give you a good place to start.

Re:Can I ask why?

[TheConfusedOne]

I think the first issue is the cost of keeping those machines up to date.

The second is what the machines are supposed to be doing. If it's just surfing the web, emails, and basic word processing then you should be able to do this much cheaper than paying the annual MS tax.

A terminal server like setup would allow you to use cheaper boxes at the front. (Maybe you could put out 10 more boxes with the savings in hardware and software.)

Finally, it'll discourage the script kiddies. When Joe Jr. goes to logon and use his floppy disk with the latest priviledge elevating holes in Windows they'll be stuck at step one.

The best approach would be to figure out how to set up the new boxes and use them whenever you replace/rebuild a system. (You could probably create a pretty nice computer center with a server grade box and 10-20 PII class machines acting as terminals.)

There are a flood of resources out there...

[ainsoph]

The biggest one I can think of is the "linux Terminal Server Project",

ltsp

Which has been adapted to public schools in the form of:

k12ltsp

The linux in education folks have tons of info on doing stuff like this and are very wise about digital divide issues.

Here are some links:

open source schools

School Forge

k12os

SEUL/Edu

Some case studies:

seul dat

There is also Simple End User Linux (SEUL)

SEUL

RedHats "Open Source Now" initiative has listings of people in the area who can help out. They also have a bunch of "why's" and "hows" on their site.

Open Source Now

I should be listed there in the Army of Friends, but have not gotten around to putting myself up. Feel free to contact me at cschwan4@attbi.com, as I am in the Seattle area.

Doing this kind of thing is a great interest of mine, and I work in education to help make these transistions.

Hope this helps.