locking down the desktop

[Gavin McCullagh]

Hi,

On Mon, 21 Jan 2008, btabor wrote:

> All students log in the same (see the same desktop).
> Then they can navigate to their network folders.

I had guessed wrongly that they each had their own account.  I would
strongly suggest you consider doing this as it will solve this and many
other problems by making each user responsible for their own account.  You
can use the network folder as their home directory.

> Obviously, from your "do you make sure they wipe themselves properly"
> comment, you do not understand the importance of not letting hundreds of
> teenagers save whatever they want to their school desktops. 

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend, it just seemed crazy to give people their
own space and then want to tidy up after them within it.  It's now clear
that they're sharing the same space, which is why you have the problem.  I
certainly understand the importance.

I would seriously suggest giving them accounts.  If you can't do that, I'd
suggest making the Desktop/ folder read-only and modifying firefox settings
and I've pointed out that that's not watertight, though perhaps sufficient
to steer them away from saving to the desktop.

> I am very new to Linux and trying to learn as I go. I thought signing up
> for this listserve would be helpful, but if you are just going to poke
> fun......I am thinking that this might not have been a good idea. I am
> just trying to figure things out and do the best I can. The high school
> computers with Edubuntu on them are looking a mess and everyone is
> complaining because the kids can save to the desktops, I was just trying
> to figure out a way to solve a problem that others have asked me to
> solve. If you feel the need to make insensitive comments, then I guess I
> am looking in the wrong place for answers.

My apologies, I didn't mean to cause offence.  This list is full of more
sensitive souls than me so don't leave on my account.

I've offered two solutions to your problem.  If you need more help
implementing either, please ask.

Gavin