[PLUG] Configuring Ubuntu Desktop for public users?

[Ben Koenig]

Free Geek uses various temp users internally for their workstations. It has
been a while since I worked there, but they also had an OEM user, which is
temporary for use when building the computers.

I'm pretty sure that MDM, the display manager in Mint has a Guest mode, you
may want to look into turning that on, since it allows for temporary users.
This will result in any data getting saved by the user to be automatically
wiped when they log off. Users in general also cannot write to directories
outside /home/$USER, so you don't have to worry about things like /var
filling up.


I would implement a guest user through the display manager. Usually this
just means activating it in the config file. You can then have password
protected Admin users that have sudo access. Avoid using Firefox alone to
set this, since there are a million ways to bypass the browser, giving the
user access to the rest of the filesystem.


There are a bunch of Linux kiosk projects, like the LinuxK-12 project that
Rich mentioned, but if you want to keep the OS installed by Free Geek,
there are a few configuration options that you can toggle for smaller
setups. If the organization is only planning 2 public stations, then a
diskless solution will be time consuming and expensive.


Keep in mind that any diskless thin client solutions will require a server
to host the OS.


On Mon, Jun 11, 2018 at 9:19 AM, Carl Karsten <carl at personnelware.com>
wrote:

> I looked into this for my local library, about 7 years ago.
>
> I would start with Rich's suggestion because
> a) he is much more current than me
> b) he is likely to be of help when you need it
>
> That said, there are lots of projects that do this kind of thing.  I
> am sure there was one that was meant for libraries.
>
> One thing I was always concerned with was how well the system would
> last over weeks or months of lack of attention.    Like, does it need
> a sys admin around to apply security updates, or un brick a machine
> because /var filled up, etc.
>
> If you expect to maintain the boxes, great, this isn't an issue.  If
> you are going to leave them in the hands of someone that can turn it
> off and on again... then the requirements are different.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
> On Mon, Jun 11, 2018 at 11:00 AM, Rich Shepard <rshepard at appl-ecosys.com>
> wrote:
> > On Mon, 11 Jun 2018, Mike C. wrote:
> >
> >> Does anyone have any experience with configuring Ubuntu desktop for a
> >> school, library or non-profit for many public users?
> >
> >
> > Mike,
> >
> >   If the linuxK-12 project is still alive it would be a good resource for
> > you. At the Riverdale HS the network used diskless workstation clients
> and a
> > central server. How that was configured could be a guide for you.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Rich
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > PLUG at pdxlinux.org
> > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
>
>
>
> --
> Carl K
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