DIY: The ideal web browser kiosk software

Let’s say your customers need to be able to use a kiosk for web browsing only. You’ve tried a full-blown Windows installation, a locked-down Windows installation, and a Linux live distribution, but each one had various problems (security, too many features, high resource needs, etc.) that must be overcome in order to serve as the ideal solution.

My solution of choice has been a Linux distribution using a desktop like Fluxbox to only allow the users “access” to the web browser. The problem with that is the more rascally users will figure out how to open a terminal window and wreak their own special havoc on the machine.

Now there’s an ideal solution called Webconverger.It is a live Linux distribution that boots up (it can be booted from a CD or a flash drive) and, when the boot process is done, it will only present a web browser. Anyone using the kiosk can browse the web, using Firefox 5, and nothing more. It’s easy, elegant, and avoids all sorts of headaches like the ones I mentioned about the other solutions. Webconverger is available in two editions: free and custom.

How to use Webconverger

1. Download the latest ISO image.
2. Burn the ISO to either a disc or a flash drive (getting the image to a flash drive is easy with the help of UNetbootin.)
3. Transfer the newly burned disc or flash drive to the kiosk machine.
4. Boot the kiosk from either the CD or the flash drive.
5. Start browsing the web.

There is one minor catch: The default Home screen for the browser cannot be changed manually. In order to get customizations, you must go to the Webconverger Customize page and purchase the customization (100GBP ~ 115 EUR/~ 150 USD). After paying this fee, the following can be configured:

• Custom Home page and artwork.
• Choice of browser (Firefox, Iceweasel, or Chrome).
• Kiosk reset timeout.
• Custom browser layouts.
• Screen blanking options.
• Bootloader lockdown.
• Adobe Flash and PDF viewing.

You will then be emailed with a link to your customized ISO download.

Even if you only want to use Webconverger default options, the default Home page (Figure A) is an innocuous Weconverger advertisement.

Figure A

When a session is reset, this will always be the Home page. Also, you won’t see any bookmarks (you cannot save bookmarks).