By changing the Xsession file you can start a kiosk-style machine that starts a single X11 application.
On Debian you would change the file /etc/X11/Xsession.d/99×11-common_start. In stock form there is a line that reads:
exec $STARTUP
Change that to read :
exec firefox javascript:%20resizeTo(1024,768)
and your machine will boot directly into Firefox at a screen size of 1024×768. Of course you can change the size to any resolution you like. You can probably also add more javascript as well and force opening a web page and other stuff. Combine this with Bastille and an autologin of a non-privileged user and you’ll have a very convenient (and cheap) kiosk.
On KLIXs which Mandriva based, the default XSession file is at /etc/X11/Xsession, and in default it could handle multiple wm from twm through kde, so it’s not hard to find the coresponding line :
exec /bin/sh -c “$DESKTOP”
Change that to read :
exec firefox javascript:%20resizeTo(1024,768)
On some other Linux distros the Xsession file may actually be a single file rather than a directory of files. A simple search such as:
find /etc/X11 -iname ‘Xsession*’
should find it for you. The actual line to change may differ also but should be near the end and be an exec statement or a function call that invokes exec.
Hope this helps you Brian … 😀 Cheers and keep on faith.
