Porteus Kiosk 5.3.0 distribution kit, based on Gentoo and intended for equipping stand-alone Internet kiosks, demonstration stands and self-service terminals, has been released. The distribution boot image is 136 MB (x86_64).
The base assembly includes only the minimum set of components necessary to run a web browser (Firefox and Chrome are supported), which is curtailed in its capabilities to prevent unwanted activity on the system (for example, settings are not allowed to be changed, download / installation of applications is blocked, only access to selected pages). Additionally, specialized Cloud builds are offered for comfortable work with web applications (Google Apps, Jolicloud, OwnCloud, Dropbox) and ThinClient for working as a thin client (Citrix, RDP, NX, VNC and SSH) and Server for managing a network of kiosks.
The configuration is carried out through a special wizard, which is combined with the installer and allows you to prepare a customized version of the distribution kit for placement on a USB Flash or hard drive. For example, you can set a default page, define a whitelist of allowed sites, set a password for guest login, define an inactivity timeout for logging out, change the background image, customize the browser skin, add additional plugins, enable wireless network support, configure keyboard layout switching, etc. .d.
During boot, system components are verified by checksums, and the system image is mounted in read-only mode. Updates are installed automatically using the mechanism of formation and atomic replacement of the entire system image. It is possible to centrally remotely configure a group of typical Internet kiosks with configuration download over the network. Due to its small size, by default, the distribution is loaded entirely into RAM, which allows you to noticeably increase the speed of work.
In the new release:
- Software versions are synchronized with the Gentoo repository as of October 14th. Including updated packages with the Linux kernel 5.10.73, Chrome 93 and Firefox 91.2.0 ESR.
- Libinput is used as a driver for input devices, thanks to which, on systems with touch screens, it was possible to establish support for controlling on-screen gestures in Firefox. Systems with calibrated touchscreens will continue to use the 'evdev' driver when upgrading from past versions.
- Firefox and Chrome include an on-screen keyboard add-on.
- Added a setting to enable experimental support for hardware accelerated video decoding in Firefox and Chrome.
- The ability to change the position of the on-screen buttons is provided.
- Removed the ability to use Adobe Flash Player.
- The 'dns_server=' parameter is adapted to work in configurations with DHCP.
- Added 'sound open firmware' package to allow alternative sound drivers.
- In the server edition, the admin panel has been updated.
Source: opennet.ru