I agree with Erik's sentiment that it doesn't really matter. On any
modern desktop, it's "Click on the button in the corner, then follow the
menu". The apps I use (Firefox, Thunderbird, Gimp, OpenOffice, etc.)
look pretty much the same on any platform. Ah, taste the freedom :)
But problems happen when you go with an older Unix GUI, like CDE, or
lightweight WMs (like DSL Linux). The reason is that CTRL-C and CTRL-V
don't copy'n'paste like people expect. Or there is no "button in the
corner", because they're expected to right-click to get the main menu
(something that Mac people struggle with).
One solution that may make for cheap hardware is a beefy Ubuntu
server, with "whatever" VNC clients. You can set up VNC so it presents
the user with the GDM login screen of a server. Then users log in, run
the full apps off the server (OpenOffice, etc.), save files on the
server, etc. At that point, any dinky workstation with an Ubuntu
bootable USB key will work as a thin client:
http://scotttyee.com/blog/2009/12/09/linux-headless-ubuntu-with-vnc/
You can buy a brand-new dual-core AMD box with 1.5 TB of disk and 4
Gigs of RAM for ~$550. That would easily serve a cafe full of clients.
(Caveat: I haven't tested YouTube videos or DVD movies over VNC yet.)
You'll also want to consider how to do user authentication. Here in
Seattle, you can buy a coffee, and printed on your coffee receipt is a
network login password, good for one hour. You might want something
similar to that. Or, you might want to go the ISP route, and offer
email addresses, web sites, and/or file server space also.
Another option would be to hand out the bootable USB sticks as the
physical key "authentication". All your workstations could have no O.S.
or hard disk. If a user buys Internet access, they get a USB stick
w/Ubuntu pre-installed and pre-configured with Firefox and Thunderbird.
When their time is up, they hand in the USB keys.
Good luck, and please let us know how things turn out.
--Derek
On 01/03/2010 01:29 PM, Phil Hughes wrote:
Since I posted my initial question, I tripped on ZenCafe
(http://www.zencafe.web.id/). It is a Slackware-based internet cafe
package developed in Indonesia. It uses Xfce. I am about done
downloading it just to see what it is as the documentation doesn't
really tell you much.
As for the GUI, most people here who have used Windoze in an Internet
Cafe have probably used 95 or 98. Each new version requires more
hardware and is harder to pirate. So, my guess is that the default
assumption will be much like what happened to you. They will assume it
is just one of the newer versions of Windoze.
We'll. I should know on Tuesday if I have the building I am looking at
buying. No building, no internet cafe.
On 1/3/10, Erik Ryberg <[email protected]> wrote:
As to the Gnome or KDE question, I have one data point that may be worth
$.02 or less.
I run my law office on Ubuntu and OpenOffice, using Gnome. My first
secretary was a Mac user and about a year into her employment I
overheard her tell someone she used Windows at the office. She thought
it was Windows because it was different from her Mac. She never had any
problems navigating any of it.
My second secretary was a Windows user and, yes, you guessed it . . .
she assumed she was using a Mac at "the office." She too had no
difficulty with any of the navigation.
So as far as user interface goes, I think they are probably all so
similar now that it won't make much difference what you use.
Erik
Steve McCarthy wrote:
Probably not what you are looking for, but since I am in a hotel in
China right now, I am using a thin client workstation in my room that
is branded MPRC and is accessing a central server somewhere outside
the room. No CPU box, just keyboard, mouse and monitor. Monitor has
some kind of network interface.
This system I'm on right now is going against a Windows Enterprise
server (I think that's what briefly appeared when I logged in.).
Depending what protocol it uses to communicate with the server, maybe
Linux could be used on the server side instead of Windows.
http://www.pkunity.com/english%20version/engindex.htm
Cheers from Beijing (9 deg F, brrr),
-Steve
On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 1:06 AM, Phil Hughes <[email protected]> wrote:
It is very likely I will be involved in setting up a small Internet
cafe in a community in Nicaragua. What makes sense here, of course, is
not the same as what makes sense in a "high-salary" area. I am
interested in a bit of feedback.
Here are some starting points.
===== Assumptions =====
* Most users will either be a non-computer user or a Windoze user
* Most use will be browsing, followed by lite office stuff such as
word processing and spreadsheets
* A reasonable amount of that browsing will likely be students doing
research
* Most users will speak Spanish only
* Administrative labor (billing for use, etc) is cheaper than
technical solutions
* A "geek" will not be on-site most of the time
* The initial configuration will be four stations and could expand
to as many as eight
===== Questions =====
* Gnome or KDE?
* Ease of use for newbie
* Useful documentation (in Spanish)
* Server and dumb clients (a la LTSP), useful workstations, or ... ?
* Proxy?
Gracias.
--
Phil Hughes
[email protected] -- [email protected]
--
Erik B. Ryberg
Attorney at Law
312 South Convent Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85701
phone: (520) 622-3333
fax: (520) 622-2406
