The launch of the new version of the distribution «Porteus Kiosk 5.3.0»Which is based on Gentoo and is designed to equip independent Internet kiosks, 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 builds are offered in the cloud for comfortable work with web applications (Google Apps, Jolicloud, OwnCloud, Dropbox) and ThinClient to work as a thin client (Citrix, RDP, NX, VNC and SSH) and a server for kiosk network management.
The 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 it on a USB flash drive 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. d.
At boot, system components are verified by 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 5.3.0
In this new version that is presented of the distribution we can find that lThe software versions are synced with the Gentoo repository as of October 14 with which also Updated packages with Linux kernel 5.10.73, Chrome 93 and Firefox 91.2.0 ESR are included.
Regarding the changes that stand out from this new version, we can find that Libinput is used as a driver for input devices, thanks to which it was possible to establish support for the control of screen gestures in Firefox on systems with touch screens. Upgrading from previous versions of systems with calibrated touchscreens will continue to use the 'evdev' driver.
Another important change is that from this new version Firefox and Chrome include an on-screen keyboard plug-in, Besides that the ability to use Adoble Flash Player was removed and it is also noted that a setting was added to enable support for experimental hardware accelerated video decoding in Firefox and Chrome.
Of the other changes that stand out:
- Provided the ability to change the position of on-screen buttons.
- The 'dns_server =' parameter is adapted to work in DHCP configurations.
- Added 'sound open firmware' package to allow alternative sound drivers.
- The admin panel has been updated in the server edition.
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 5.3.0
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.