Ubuntu Kiosk with Libreoffice?

Question

I have been searching for about one week for a " Kiosk with firefox and Libreoffice " but unfortunately, I couldn't find it ! or my experience is not too much dealing with Ubuntu and Linus in general.

So, I want the user to be able to surf the Internet, print, copy files to his/her USB and of course open Libreoffice. Only that !

Can anybody help me with some simple steps, please?

Thank you,

Answer 1

Here is what I would personally suggest. I created an image once so that some friends could safely learn to use the terminal system, so I get what you need.

Preparing your workstation

1. Login as administrator and setup your system. Go through every single piece of software and clear out the ones you don't want. Your user shouldn't have access to things he shouldn't be supposed to touch. They need to use the workstation for its intended purpose.
2. Create a new user for your, well, users. I would suggest using a terminal for the sake of simplicity. sudo useradd sparky should do the trick, adding the user named sparky. By this method, the user will not be in any groups by default. It won't be in the sudoers -- meaning it can't do anything but run user-level programs, such as whatever is installed and doesn't require root privilege. However, it is required to set passwords anyway.
3. Set up the user to auto-login. Now, you won't need to give away passwords for your users, and can simply tell your users to go use any computer. This, of course, is optional to you. It makes it easier for your users, though. P.S. Now might be a good time to make a backup, in case something goes wrong. Then you won't be stuck for the many hours of work I just put you through.

---

Setting up auto login

One of the reasons that Ubuntu systems are considered so secure is because they require passwords to install software or to configure the system. They also require passwords to login to the computer. If you want to bypass the login password, there is an Auto Login function you can set and use.

One of the reasons I love the terminal so much is that it makes complicated GUI tasks relatively quick. The GUI also makes complicated terminal tasks relatively quick. They each have their advantages.

Run the following to setup auto login.

sudo mkdir /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d gksudo gedit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-myconfig.conf

Copy and paste the following:

[SeatDefaults] autologin-user=USERNAME

That's all there is to it. But what do we do when the system suspends or goes into sleep mode?

1. Type gconf-editor in a terminal (Alt+Ctrl+T to call the terminal).
2. Go to apps/gnome-power-manager/locks
3. Check "use_screensaver_settings".
4. If still asked for password, you can (also in gconf-editor) go to desktop/gnome/lockdown and check: "disable_lock_screen"

And that should do it.

Partially cited and edited from the wiki page.

I hope this helps, as I put a lot of time into creating this. Should you need any assistance, please comment below! If I didn't answer your question, let me know so that I can help you figure it out.