4 ms·

It's shocking just how many kiosk manufacturers expose the underlying OS. Ariane isn't the only one.

• RicoElectrico 2y ago
  On Linux you can make Qt use the framebuffer directly without a window manager. With that setup there's nowhere to break out. And if it crashes to the console - no way out either with no physical keyboard present.
  • amluto 2y ago
    An actually good design would be secure even with a physical keyboard. “All” you need to do is keep the keyboard from interacting with the Linux VT system (which is not conceptually difficult).
  • fy20 2y ago
    At my 9-5 we make kiosks based on a custom Linux system. Everything is run within Docker containers, so even if you somehow kill the UI it'll just restart the container. VT on the host OS are disabled. I can see why most companies prefer Windows though for these type of devices. Driver issues with graphics and third party hardware are a constant pain point for us. Unless you control the whole ecosystem and write your own drivers (e.g. smart TVs), Linux based systems are tricky. I'd imagine Windows has the same issue to some extend, but it's the default target for manufacturers, so their Windows drivers are usually better. I feel there could be a market for a custom Linux OS aimed for these use cases. Windows licensing is not cheap when you have tens of thousands of devices, and they aren't running the 'Home' version.
    • withinboredom 2y ago
      Isn't the iot version of windows free?
      • DaSHacka 2y ago
        IoT as in LTSC IoT? No, you still have to pay for a license