locking down the desktop

[Jim Kronebusch]

On Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:01:32 -0800 (PST), btabor wrote
> All students log in the same (see the same desktop).
> Then they can navigate to their network folders.
> 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. 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.

Since we have now confirmed these are stand alone machines and not on a LTSP network. 
For starters, open up terminal with "Applications->Accessories->Terminal".  Then type
"sudo pessulus".  This will open the "Lockdown Editor".  Click on "General" in the left
pane and then click the check box next to "Disable save to disk", then click the shield
icon next to the checkbox to make it gray (In Gutsy, on Feisty click the lock so it is
closed).  This will prevent students from saving any files locally and force them to
save to the network location or a USB stick.

If you really want to fine tune things, go to terminal and run "sudo apt-get install
gconf-editor".  Then run "sudo gconf-editor".  This will open Gconf-Editor which is a
powerful tool for locking down settings for users.  Just browse the settings under
"Apps" and "Desktop".  Here you will find things for locking themes, and many other
things.  If you want to set the changes as default for new users right click the setting
and select "Default", if you want to make the change mandatory for existing users, right
click the setting and select "Mandatory".  If you need help locking something specific
here just post your question.  There are also ways to lock your home page and the bookmarks.

Hope this helps,
Jim

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