The launch of the new version of the distribution Porteus Kiosk 5.1.0, based on Gentoo y designed to equip and revive old computer equipment, converting them at independent points, demonstration stands and self-service terminals.
The distribution stands out for being a basic container that includes only the minimum set of components necessary to run a web browser (Firefox and Chrome are supported).
That is reduced in its capabilities to prevent unwanted activity on the system (for example, changing settings is not allowed, application download / installation is blocked, only access to selected pages).
In addition, specialized cloud builds offered to work comfortably with web applications (Google Apps, Jolicloud, OwnCloud, Dropbox) and ThinClient to work as a thin client (Citrix, RDP, NX, VNC and SSH) and server for the management of kiosk networks.
Configuration is done through a special wizard, which is combined with the installer and allows you to prepare a customized version of the distribution kit to place on a USB Flash or hard disk.
For example, you can set a default page, define a whitelist of allowed sites, set a password for a guest login, define an inactivity timeout for logging out, change the background image, customize the appearance browser, add additional plugins, enable wireless network support, configure keyboard layout change, etc.
At startup, system components are verified using checksums and the system image is mounted in read-only mode. Updates are installed automatically using the atomic build and replace mechanism of the entire system image.
Centralized remote configuration of a group of typical Internet kiosks is possible with configuration download over the network. Due to its small size, by default the distribution kit is fully loaded into RAM, which significantly increases the working speed.
Main new features of Porteus Kiosk 5.1.0
In this new version presented of Porteus Kiosk 5.1.0 software versions are synced with Gentoo repository (20201004), As for the updated packages that are highlighted are the updated package versions of the Linux kernel 5.4.70, Firefox 78.3.1, Chrome 85.
Regarding the changes that are presented, we can find that the ability to print from Firefox was returned without showing a dialog with print options.
Firefox does not allow URI drivers 'irc: //' and 'ircs: //', that attackers could use to bypass restrictions and launch arbitrary applications.
The configuration includes EFI stubs required for some HP computers with EFI firmware.
In addition, it is noted that the option 'persistence = wipe' was added to the settings to delete the contents of the home directory of the guest users and microphone and webcam forwarding provided in sessions based in Citrix Workspace.
The Controllers for network chips Broadcom and Realtek compile to the kernel without using modules (PXE boot issues resolved).
Added a delay before loading USB sound cards to ensure the last slot on the sound card is used.
Y added VAAPI information to debug logs to select video codecs with hardware decoding acceleration support.
Finally, if you want to know more about it About this new version released, you can check the list of changes and the project website.
Download Porteus Kiosk 5.1.0
For those who are interested in being able to test this distribution, they will be able to obtain the image of the system from its official website in which the corresponding links are provided in its download section (the boot image of the distribution occupies 110 MB).
In the same way, you will be able to find more information on the site about the configuration, installation and even information to modify the system image, in its documentation section.