[geeks] Linux Web Kiosk

[Joshua Boyd]

On Sun, Mar 02, 2008 at 08:26:53PM +0000, Mark wrote:

> It doesn't need to be a totally bulletproof the kiosk as it's just to  
> act as a front for the box so I can use the app without a remote  
> terminal. The embedded unit has a Radeon 9250 AGP card in and it seems  
> a waste not to use it for something :P I don't need to auto-restart  
> the browser or anything I just need to be able to do a 'startx' from  
> my user login and be presented with a browser.
> 
> Do you need to have X running in order for Firefox to load and promote  
> to the first X screen? Or if you run Firefox with all the switches  
> will it auto-run X? I'm a total dim-wit when it comes to X as all I've  
> ever done is hack video card settings and run established DEs like  
> KDE, GNOME, Xfce or Windowmaker.

Firefox won't autostart X.  You need to run X first.

All you would need to do would be to startx and then some config file
(.Xsession probably) a like like:
exec firefox -geom XXXXXXX 

Then when you startx, firefox will come right up.
 
> It'd probably be nice to lock the local end down eventually so you are  
> presented with a web-based login and config screen on boot, but that's  
> a long way down the line (at a place I may never get to ;)).

If you ever get further along, I would explore directfb and webkit.
Directfb will nicely support hardware acceleration with that vintage of
Radeon. 

I am using DirectFB on a slightly older radeon chip on a SBC at work,
although I am writing my own display code rather than using Webkit or
Gecko.