Re: GNOME 2.0 System Admin Guide.

[Telsa Gwynne <hobbit aloss ukuu org uk>]

On Wed, Sep 25, 2002 at 01:01:05PM +0100 or thereabouts, Eugene O'Connor wrote:
> Hi Jens,
> 
> Pat forwarded your SAG suggestion to me. I'm not sure what you mean by
> "kiosk mode". Do you mean to set up a system where the user could not
> change preferences such as background color, the number and content of
> panels, proxy, printer, and so on?

Pretty much. jwz has a similar sort of thing written up here:

http://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/src/kiosk/

I saw an even simpler version at an airport recently: kiosks
where there was no panel (no visible Gnome, in fact), but twm
or something and Galeon. There was a big "reset" button on 
the desktop. That was it.

The entire aim was that someone could browse a limited section
of sites (the advertisers') if they didn't pay; and the rest of
the web if they put money in the slot. 

They said 'lastminute.com' all over them. I suppose someone
could ask lastminute what they were and how they did it too.

Oh, and 'kiosk mode' is pretty much descriptive: the touchscreens
were in a podium on the floor with some garish hoardings around
the back and sides of the podium which stretched to a height of
around six feet. Not -that- like a telephone kiosk, but the 
word seems to have taken off for this very limited set of 
function approach. Whether and how it differs from 'appliance',
I dunno. 

Telsa