configuring unity launcher for 200+ users

[Ric Moore]

On 06/02/2012 07:30 AM, Colin Law wrote:
> On 2 June 2012 12:07, Matt Johnson<johnsonmlw at yahoo.com>  wrote:
>>
>>
>> On 2 Jun 2012, at 08:26, Colin Law<clanlaw at googlemail.com>  wrote:
>>
>>> On 1 June 2012 22:54, Ryan Gauger<rtgkid at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>> On 06/01/2012 12:58 PM, Matt Johnson wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> We plan to upgrade from 10.04 to 12.04 in a 250 user UK Junior school. I'd
>>>>> like to put some popular, often-used programs on the launcher, as well as
>>>>> remove Ubuntu One, software centre, settings etc which won't be needed. In
>>>>> fact, the latter is more a priority than the former as I don't want
>>>>> irrelevant stuff cloggin up the launcher.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> How might we achieve that? I can't find a relevant directory or file that
>>>>> I could distribute across the users.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ta.
>>>>> --
>>>>> Matt
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> You have the ability to do this - through the terminal. You can run "sudo
>>>> apt-get remove package-name", where package-name is replaced with the name
>>>> of the package you are wanting to uninstall. I highly warn you about
>>>> removing System Settings. If it is not available, some parts of Unity may be
>>>> broken. For Instance, you may receive an error message after right-clicking
>>>> the desktop, and selecting "Change Desktop Background". Some other parts of
>>>> Unity may also be broken if you choose to remove System Settings. If you
>>>> mean you want to remove individual settings in System Settings, that is not
>>>> possible, because each part of System Settings is built around each other.
>>>
>>>
>>> I think we are mis-interpreting the question here.  As I read it he
>>> wants to remove the apps from the /launcher/ and add some other apps
>>> (also to the launcher), but he has 250 machines to do and doesn't want
>>> to do it by hand to all the machines.
>>>
>>> Colin
>>>
>>> --
>>> ubuntu-users mailing list
>>> ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
>>> Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
>>
>> Much obliged for all answers. Ubuntu is great in schools. Our setup is very easy to maintain.
>>
>> Colin,
>>
>> Yes, thanks. That's pretty much what I need, though it's made easier as we use thin and fat clients by using ltsp. So, as you say, what I want to achieve is to roll out a unity launcher setup (with selected applications) to all 250 users (effectively on one machine). I imagine this might be achieved by setting up one template user and copying a directory or config file to all users as I do something similar with 10.04 desktop icons and other users settings currently.
>>
>> So... Where is the user config for the unity 2d launcher please? Or another approach.
>
> I believe it is stored in gconf.  If I run gconf-editor and go to
> desktop/unity-2d/launcher/favorites I see a list of all the .desktop
> files in the launcher.  I suppose a script could be written to set
> this up appropriately for all users.

I wonder if he could set a per-user link to the server gconf file, so 
that everyone could actually use the same file? Then the admin need only 
edit that file on the server and the change be instantaneous across the 
localnet of users? Ric



-- 
My father, Victor Moore (Vic) used to say:
"There are two Great Sins in the world...
..the Sin of Ignorance, and the Sin of Stupidity.
Only the former may be overcome." R.I.P. Dad.
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