Re: Locking down the User Interface

["Kevin D. Knerr, Sr." <kknerrsr ptdprolog net>]

On 14 Nov, Guillermo S. Romero / Familia Romero wrote:

> So is one of those who want to lock user options going to tell me why
> it is so needed?

It is needed for kiosk-style operations. Granted, as long as enough
other items are locked down (shell access, editors, configuration apps)
it should be manageable. But an applet or global setting here would be
nice.

> BTW, for those who think full standarization at working place is right
> (yes, if you want bored workers, and thus improductive workers), I
> would ask them if the seats are glued and the pens have only one place
> to be put. If computer is, why not the rest? Maybe somebody is
> forgetting to lock things. ;]

I'm currently working in tech support. The call center is filled with
PCs running WinNT. Your desk is only yours for the time you occupy
it--no guarantees you'll have the same desk next shift. Now granted,
IMHO, ops made a bad decision when they chose *not* to have network
logins that would permit users to customize their look & feel and have
it available at whatever station they logged in. At any rate, any time
an agent makes a change in system settings (font style/size, color
combinations, background) it's likely to be something distasteful or
even unusable for the next user. (8 pt Arial Narrow is *so* legible!)
Hence, policy is *no changes* -- not that it's enforceable by any means
other than constant surveillance & reprimand.

In this kind of situation, a lock-down mechanism only places a facade
over other bad operational choices.

OTOH--there's something to be said for having a known state
available--without deleting/renaming *all* of the config
files/directories. This is where the current customization scheme which
uses absolute paths really makes things difficult for sysadmins.

Regards,

Barthel
-- 
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