Arch in our R&D Project

alonon · 2010-02-15 11:31:46

Hello;
Our company wants to make a hand terminal. This terminal have lots of features. I want to use Linux in it ( Hardware system is enough to use Arch ). There is some features of termaaln below, Can we make these features with using Arch Linux easly ?

1. Users can not view or edit update settings, if there is a update, terminal will update it's os without asking.
2. OS will start only with firefox, no menu, no other settings, just firefox. (or another browser.)
3. OS should be minimal , work fast and be secure.

Thank you.

jac · 2010-02-15 11:53:24

Have you tried Arch? That would be the best way to see if it will work for you.

1) If they're a non-root account, and you have a root cron, I don't see why not
2) That should be easy, depending only on your WM
3) That's up to the way you set it up

Parter · 2010-02-16 03:27:48

So your company wants to copy ChromeOS except with Firefox?

Take a look at ChromiumOS(The open source project behind ChomeOS) and you can clone most of it except with Firefox.

Allan · 2010-02-16 03:34:18

alonon wrote:

Our company wants to make a hand terminal. This terminal have lots of features. I want to use Linux in it ( Hardware system is enough to use Arch ). There is some features of termaaln below, Can we make these features with using Arch Linux easly ?

Short answer, yes you can... but I would not consider using Arch for that sort of thing, and I know the system very well.

alonon · 2010-02-16 10:08:01

Thanks for your answers , are there any alternatives thay you can advice ?

bangkok_manouel · 2010-02-16 10:11:41

Allan wrote:

alonon wrote:
Our company wants to make a hand terminal. This terminal have lots of features. I want to use Linux in it ( Hardware system is enough to use Arch ). There is some features of termaaln below, Can we make these features with using Arch Linux easly ?
Short answer, yes you can... but I would not consider using Arch for that sort of thing, and I know the system very well.

out of curiosity, do you mind giving more details ? is it because of the rolling release design ? TIA

alonon · 2010-02-16 10:37:38

Ok, Terminal will connect with a Server. Users can send data from terminal to the server on a browser. Therefore, on Os, only one browser should work. Users can not close or edit anything. One of terminal features is taking pictures and sending them to the servers ...

Allan · 2010-02-16 10:45:35

bangkok_manouel wrote:

Allan wrote:
Short answer, yes you can... but I would not consider using Arch for that sort of thing, and I know the system very well.
out of curiosity, do you mind giving more details ? is it because of the rolling release design ? TIA

Mainly due to this criterion:

alonon wrote:

1. Users can not view or edit update settings, if there is a update, terminal will update it's os without asking.

Unattended updates on a bleeding edge distro are not wise. But then again, more details on the situation might make me change my mind... Perhaps this will just rsync from a master server when the terminal is docked and the master server will be maintained manually.

I'd be tempted to use Debian or CentOS (depending on whether I wanted to run the yum or apt gauntlet...). Or I would do more research.

It is all about knowing what is distribution is good for and if others are better suited. I would probably not use Arch on a critical server at my workplace. That is what RHEL is for, so you can blame other people. But I do use it on a personal server and my primary work computer.

Ditzi · 2010-02-16 11:37:55

Maybe you should look at http://www.xpud.org/

Mr.Elendig · 2010-02-16 12:33:47

The updates could be solved easily by running a custom mirror. Everything gets tested on a test device first, and if the update is good, push the stuff to the custom mirror, and let the units update from it. That should probably be done anyway, no matter what ditro one base the system on.

zowki · 2010-02-16 14:33:16

Dont use a window manager, just do this:

xinit firefox

raf_kig · 2010-02-16 17:18:29

Mr.Elendig wrote:

The updates could be solved easily by running a custom mirror. Everything gets tested on a test device first, and if the update is good, push the stuff to the custom mirror, and let the units update from it. That should probably be done anyway, no matter what ditro one base the system on.

On that kind of client you don't want bleeding edge software and new features, you want a system that only changes when it is absolutely necessary (read: never).
Security updates only - that's it, no new features, no funky new drivers and no new config file formats...
Of course you can do that with arch (just have to do a lot of backporting...) - but using arch would be more a problem than a solution here.

If you want linux I'd either go for debian or rhel/centos

Arch Linux

#1 2010-02-15 11:31:46

Arch in our R&D Project

#2 2010-02-15 11:53:24

Re: Arch in our R&D Project

#3 2010-02-16 03:27:48

Re: Arch in our R&D Project

#4 2010-02-16 03:34:18

Re: Arch in our R&D Project

#5 2010-02-16 10:08:01

Re: Arch in our R&D Project

#6 2010-02-16 10:11:41

Re: Arch in our R&D Project

#7 2010-02-16 10:37:38

Re: Arch in our R&D Project

#8 2010-02-16 10:45:35

Re: Arch in our R&D Project

#9 2010-02-16 11:37:55

Re: Arch in our R&D Project

#10 2010-02-16 12:33:47

Re: Arch in our R&D Project

#11 2010-02-16 14:33:16

Re: Arch in our R&D Project

#12 2010-02-16 17:18:29

Re: Arch in our R&D Project

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