<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body><div>If I were you I would look into net booting the devices from an image that they cannot change. This way you could if you wished allow them loads more access possibly even su access if they want to learn some things. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div id="composer_signature"><div style="font-size:85%;color:#575757">Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.</div></div><div style="font-size:100%;color:#000000"><!-- originalMessage --><div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Gavin Chester <gavin.chester@gmail.com> </div><div>Date: 8/10/2015 06:46 (GMT+03:00) </div><div>To: plug@plug.org.au </div><div>Subject: [plug] public access PCs </div><div><br></div></div>Hi folks,<br><br>I am looking into re-purposing some redundant WinXP laptops (Dell<br>Latitudes) into simple, locked down public access PCs for my students to<br>use in a govt highschool setting.<br><br>What I expect is a bit more than a web kiosk, in that I want web surfing<br>along with libreoffice and some specialist apps such as inkscape,<br>librecad, and gimp - all locked down with no other 'bloat' and<br>everything reset after use. IOW, the small range of specialist software<br>precludes using google docs along with web browsing. Oh, and a 'pretty'<br>but locked-down icon-driven desktop would be essential. Kids these days<br>barely know how to use a word processor - even if they have phone apps<br>for all sorts of things!<br><br>Students will have to enter a username and password to access the school<br>proxy server for surfing, but beyond that anonymous logins are probably<br>best to simplify not having to authenticate their use with the schools<br>server. IOW, I don't expect them to access the school's Win server<br>drives, but if it can ...<br><br>I've done a lot of searching and even some testing, but finding it hard<br>to find exactly what I'm looking for. I also know I could 'roll my own'<br>from a minimalist distro like puppy, or tinycore, but time is an issue,<br>I wonder if any of you have experience with specific custom distros that<br>have an iso or quick setup that you could recommend?<br><br><br>-- <br>Gavin Chester<br>Pinjarra, Western Australia<br>email: gavin.chester@gmail.com<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>PLUG discussion list: plug@plug.org.au<br>http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug<br>Committee e-mail: committee@plug.org.au<br>PLUG Membership: http://www.plug.org.au/membership<br></body></html>