We have an unattended kiosk at a local sports arena that currently runs a hardened Linux distribution from a CD-ROM ISO. The project that produced the distribution is no longer active -- in fact, it disappeared from the internet.
What I'm looking for is a Linux kiosk distribution which:
- Boots from CD (no hard drive installation)
- Only runs a web browser
- Restarts the web browser automatically when closed (or after a time-out period)
- Does not allow any keyboard shortcuts (to open a terminal, etc...)
- Can survive the Kiosk Attack Tools (http://ikat.ha.cked.net)
I know that there are lots of Google results for this sort of thing, and if I had the time, I would follow one of the myriad guides to "roll my own"... but I just don't have the time.
Can any of you recommend a distribution that you have personally used to fulfill this need?
I believe you need "gdm" with auto-login and ctrl-alt-backspace disabled.
Choose "matchbox" as a window-manager: it was designed for kiosk use. It's capable of maximizing windows to fullscreen (while dialogs still look nice). It also consumes little resources, and has an on-screen keyboard.
Use "xautolock" to reset browser on inactivity period.
If you're still looking for a distribution, try WebConverger. I saw it in action: a really nice pick! Alas, is shareware :(
Linux Kiosk Appliance
The Linux Kiosk Appliance comes to mind...
https://launchpad.net/kiosk
Looks like the project might be dead though... Hmmmm... Here's a place to download it...
http://www.rpath.org/project/kiosk
I'd be inclined to download the LiveCD and give it a try. Its been a looooong time since I last looked at it but I seem to recall it working just fine when I saw it.
Maybe this?
http://www.imedialinux.com/kiosk_appliances
Maybe this: http://www2.userful.com/products/userful-desktop
Cheers
If you only need a web browser, you don't actually need a window manager at all. Just put the browser of your choice to ~/.xinitrc file and you're all set.
An example of ~/.xinitrc file:
mozilla-firefox &