[geeks] Linux Web Kiosk

[Phil Stracchino]

Mark wrote:
> I have a small embedded machine that I am developing a web-based quite 
> in PHP on and I want to use the box itself as a standalone demo unit. I 
> would like to know if it was possible to have Xorg start up with a 
> maximized Firefox window with no border or widget controls on the 
> screen?  I am running Ubuntu Gutsy (PPC) and have no X desktop installed.

This is trivial.  It's not an X function, it's a window manager function.

For instance, here's how you'd do it with FVWM2, in the .fvwm2rc file:

Style "*Mozilla Firefox" NoTitle, NoHandles, Sticky, StaysOnTop, \
                          BorderWidth 0

AddToFunc InitFunction	I Exec /usr/local/bin/firefox



This won't stop your users from quitting Firefox, but it'll start 
Firefox at session startup, with no resize handles or titlebar and 
"nailed on top".  There is no StartsMaximized option to Styles, but 
Firefox remembers sizes, so if you can maximize the window once, it'll 
stay maximized.  One way you could do this is by binding, say, alt-click 
to Maximize instead of Move:


Mouse 1 A	M	MaximizeWindow

AddToFunc MaximizeWindow	M Maximize 100 100



You'd also need to install this Firefox extension to lock Firefox into 
kiosk mode:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1659?id=1659&application=firefox

As the page notes, Firefox can still be closed using Alt+F4 or another 
"window kill" command in your window manager, so you'd need to disable 
that in the FVWM2 config file (a simple matter of commenting out the key 
definition).


-- 
   Phil Stracchino, CDK#2         ICBM: 43.5607, -71.355
   Renaissance Man, Unix ronin, Perl hacker, Free Stater
   alaric at caerllewys.net            alaric at metrocast.net
           It's not the years, it's the mileage.