[Tfug] Gnome usage

[Bexley Hall]

Hi Erich,

On 3/24/2014 6:20 PM, erich wrote:
> This machine.
> Wants to be a workstation ( X-windows from other boxes on local
> display), and a multimedia device.

Well, "workstation" can mean different things to different people.
And, also depends on what the "usage style" of those people (and
applications) are likely to be.

E.g., I can type "date" just as quick as someone can glance over at
an animated clock/calendar icon.  Or, leave a window open into my
mailbox to watch for incoming mail instead of watching for an icon
that indicates the same thing, etc.  (just how often do you really
*need* "instant notification" that mail has arrived?).

If the workstation sees a few specific users, can their *frequent* needs
be easily codified as menu entries?  Do they *really* need to be able
to invoke any application on the machine with a single mouse click?

The multimedia requirements seem lie they should be particularly
easy to wrap up in a few "selections" -- a "TV" interface, in essence
(do you really want an iconified representation of the entire internet
address space so you can easily browse to an individual URL and
"click to play" (without *typing* anything)?

> I've been reading some of the literature for the upgrade. We need
> pulseaudio,
> systemd is required, consolekit is obsolete. It has security issues
>
> Systemd has issues with udev. Wow that was a hassle getting the session
> manager, (consolekit is a part of that), to work with X-org server (It
> now has some very nice security features, but they're not good enough)

If the box is "exposed", then you want *less* software running on
it instead of *more*.  It's a lot harder to keep a lot of software
reliable, robust and secure than it is to keep a *little*.

[Also, replace "less" with "smaller (executables)" and "more" with
"bloated"]

Also think about whether this is an *isolated* "exposed" machine
or could, potentially, be commandeered as a beachhead to make
further inroads to the rest of your networked devices.  How big
is the attack surface and how valuable are the assets??

[But this goes far beyond the "gnome/wm" issue...]

--don