Porteus Kiosk 5.5.0, a distribution based on Gentoo and designed for autonomous Internet kiosks, demonstration stands, and self-service terminals, has been released after a year of development. The distribution image occupies 170 MB (x86_64). The basic assembly of Porteus Kiosk includes only the minimal set of components required to launch a Web browser that has been cut in its capabilities to prevent unwanted activity in the system. Users are not allowed to change settings, and uplifting/installation of applications is blocked, leaving only access to selected pages.
Specialized cloud assemblies are also available for comfortable work with Web-applications such as Google Apps, Jolloud, Owncloud, Dropbox, and ThinClient for working as a thin client (Citrix, RDP, NX, VNC and SSH) and Server for controlling the Kiosk network. Settings can be customized through a special master, which is combined with an installer and allows preparation of a specific version of the distribution for placement on USB flash or a rig disk.
During the loading process, a verification of the system components is performed, and the system image is mounted in the mode only for reading. Updates are automatically installed using the mechanism of formation and atomic replacement of a systemic image entirely, and centralized remote setting of a group of typical Internet kiosks with the loading of configuration over the network is also possible.
In the new issue, Porteus Kiosk 5.5.0 includes Veracrypt, a free open-source utility used for on-the-fly encryption. Also, the support of Watchdog Timer ensures automatic restarting of the system when failing certain inspections. In addition, support for storage devices with the exFAT file system is also included. The updates come with Linux 6.1, Chrome 108.0.5359.124, Firefox 102.9.0, Xorg-Server 21.1.7, and Mesa 22.3.7.
Porteus Kiosk is a highly secure and customizable operating system that makes it easy for organizations to construct kiosks, poker machines, or other types of public computing devices. Due to its small size, Porteus Kiosk is loaded entirely in RAM by default, which significantly increases its speed.