[OPLINTECH] Public computers: Software? Decrease in the number of them?

Fri Nov 6 13:59:53 EST 2020

Yes, I use both TightVNC and RealVNC for those purposes, too. And +1 Bitdefender, for no nag notifications. I know some don't worry about 3rd party AV on patron computers with DeepFreeze in place, but in my opinion it's not just about the local machine, it's also about protecting the network as a whole. One last item I have used in workgroup environments, and would recommend to administrators who are not comfortable using group policy: AskAdmin to restrict executables. Block cmd, powershell, MMC, and anything patrons don't need which could be exploited. Can even pre-emptively block nuisance programs in the user/appdata directory.

Matthew Kinsey

IT Coordinator

Guernsey County District Public Library

---- On Fri, 06 Nov 2020 13:44:53 -0500 Chad Neeper via OPLINTECH <oplintech at lists.oplin.org> wrote ----

Good point on VLC media player, 7-Zip, and Acrobat Reader. Also TightVNC, for remote desktop control and assistance (with very strictly limited use.) I didn't even think about them. We install them as a staple on all computers via Chocolatey, which takes  maybe 30 seconds (literally) for the lot of them to install. (If you haven't played with Chocolatey...definitely check it out. It gives linux-like package manager installations to Windows. For free. Makes life so much easier!)

Also, BitDefender for the antivirus stuff and, on patron computers, Deep Freeze Enterprise Edition.

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Level 9 Networks
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On Fri, Nov 6, 2020 at 9:21 AM Matthew Kinsey via OPLINTECH <mailto:oplintech at lists.oplin.org> wrote:

The standard selection for patron use includes Chrome and Firefox browsers, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher), VLC media player, 7-Zip, Acrobat Reader and Winway Resume Deluxe. We use Reboot Restore RX to ensure a clean state for each user. 

The number of seats has been severely reduced to increase physical distance between stations. We were offering as many as 18 computers at one branch, but that had to be trimmed to 4. Another branch with multiple floors has 7, and another has 2 public seats. We are using a software solution (ComputerTime) to manage user session duration, as policy restricts use to 30 minutes. Touchscreen PACs have been powered down for the duration.

Probably because of the increased frequency of reboots, I am needing to re-image these computers more frequently than pre-pandemic, but that is a fairly trivial task. 

I no longer track the frequency with which programs are used, but when I did, I used a freeware productivity monitoring software to collect this type of data. Most software in this category will do that, but on public computers it's an absolute must to disable collection of any information that would identify an individual user. So, no automatic screencaps, for example. We were able to confirm which seats were most frequently used for the longest duration, and what software was used most heavily. Basically, the corner seats fill up first, followed by the ones farthest from the next occupied seat. Chrome browser is overwhelmingly the most heavily used program, followed by Word as a distant second. Dead last is probably Winway Resume, which is pretty old-fashioned and redundant.

Matthew Kinsey

IT Coordinator

Guernsey County District Public Library

---- On Thu, 05 Nov 2020 15:11:06 -0500 Phil Shirley via OPLINTECH <mailto:oplintech at lists.oplin.org> wrote ----

What software do you have on your public computers? Do you have any way to measure how much different programs are used?

Also, has the number of public computers you offer changed, or the nature of the computers?

We have Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher) and web browsers. The ones in the room where we teach classes sometimes (not these days of course) also have things like Audacity, Inscape and Gimp. We had Photoshop on some
 of them for a couple of months while we offered some classes on that, but it was too expensive to have long-term.

Phil

Phil Shirley
 IT Manager
 Cuyahoga Falls Library 
 p. 330.928.2117 x109 e. mailto:pshirley at cuyahogafallslibrary.org 
 w. http://www.cuyahogafallslibrary.org/ a. 2015 Third Street, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221
https://www.facebook.com/fallslibrary/   https://twitter.com/FallsLibrary   https://www.instagram.com/fallslibrary/

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