[KLUG Members] gnome users in a one app prison

[Adam Williams]

> > > > I would like to know how to put a user into a one or two application
> > > > prison in gnome.  I'd like to control these users desktops to have no
> > > > gnome-panel and only an icon or two to execute from the desktop.  Is
> > > > this possible?  They will be getting a desktop through ltsp.  
> > > Does it have to be Gnome?  
> > No, does not have to.  I was attempting to make this easier by not
> > installing another window manager on this machine.
> Simple WM's like fvwm are very small.  The advantage is they are easy to
> configure to what applications are on the menu.

There has been a fair amount of discussion about this over on the GNOME
list,  might be worth visiting the archives.

> > > I think it'd be easier to do with something
> > > like fvwm.
> > > > I will be
> > > > on the same machine and would prefer to not be in the jail.
> > > Does the terminal have a xdm/gdm/kdm/... login screen?
> > gdm
> Depending on what you want to do, I found kdm to be more powerful.
> (default userid, auto login, etc.)

GDM supports all the above, and they can be setup in the GUI.

> > > If so, you can force your users to one window manager (fvwm?)
> > > and allow yourself to select other WM's.
> > I could attempt to do so.  Do you think this would be the easiest way.
> Assuming you don't want to give your users a shell prompt, and they
> cannot edit files in their home directory, I'd give yourself a different
> fvwm config (with an xterm - to allow you to start anything).
> > > Or you can have your own ~/.fvwmrc config file, different than your
> > > users, giving you more applications you can run.

Or you can create a session that calls fvwm with a different config
file,  the window manager process accepts command line directives.

> fvwm doesn't have any panels like gnome or xfce.  You can create a popup
> menu that appears when they right-click on the desktop, to launch apps.
> If you want a panel, use xfce.  It is also small and easy to config.

But can xfce be secured?  Doesn't it have widgets to adjust it's own
configuration (one of the original reasons I used XFCE).  I don't know
if they can be turned off.

> > > Or you can not give them a windows manager at all, which really 
> > > limits them!  (what I do on data collection terminals)
> > I could look at the possibility of doing so through ltsp.  Just never
> > done it before.
> I've never done it with LTSP, but I've done it using a real X-Terminal.
> Shouldn't be too much different.

It isn't - done it with both, really essentially the same.