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PublicLinuxMachineFeatures

(we might redo this page completely, but here's a quick feature set...)

What do we name the machines ?

• okay, so this just came to me and it's silly, but what about fish? Tux is a penguin and eats fish, so we could name all of the computers after fish:
• albacore, salmon, snapper, catfish, tuna, cod, flyingfish, bass, pike, walleye, etc...

Software

• A WebBrowser? is pretty critical. I'd say we go with Mozilla, Phoenix, or Galeon?. Phoenix is looking really nice because it's small and fast (which would work well on slower hardware).
• BlitzMail is key. Most people just want to check blitz, so we need a fast client that looks like blitz on Mac and Windows. That's why I'm working on BlitzForLinux.
• Something to read Word, Excel, and PowerPoint? files. OpenOffice is looking like a good choice, although AbiWord and Gnumeric should also be considered. For slower machines, we might want to have them be blitz + web only.
• A bunch of basic Linux command-line tools, including lynx, etc...
• GUI GreenPrint Linux client, (we need to write one!)
• anything more ?

Hardware

• Need to have fast enough hardware to run X at a reasonable speed (for slower machines, make them just terminals?)
• Three Button Mouse is mandatory for all macs, (I have been told). None of those silly 1-button stupidities.
• We should make the Linux boxes unique in some fashion. I suggested spraypainting Tux on the side of the computer or monitor (maybe about 6-8" high). We could make up a template and paint Tux with three colors: (black, white, yellow)

Security (physical)

• chain the monitor and CPU down
• password-protected BIOS (bridges physical/system security)

Security (of the system)

• How can people log in?
  • not remotely -- especially with older (slower) machines, these should be single-user.
  • use DND username & password [default] (very useful, but no AFS space... yet)
  • use Northstar username & password (get AFS space, but very few people have northstar accounts)

• password-protected BIOS (bridges physical/system security)

Appeal, or how do we get people to use the Linux Machines?

• Put them in busy places like The HOP and one down next to the Print Output Window? in the basement of Berry. That way people will use them out of necessity (and might get to like them).
• Put a sign on the machine "This machine is using free software", as well as a link to linux.dartmouth.edu (or whatever).
• We could put up signs up like "100% penguin inside" or a 'Nutritional Value' table or "Like free stuff? This computer is running free software. Just blitz "linux" and we'll show you a webpage where you can download all of the software on this machine. Heck, we'll even give you a hand installing it on your computer!"

RobinsonTryon - 17 Oct 2002