PsychoticSheep
My nephews' PC (Dell Optiplex 790) was broken, as it turned out, the SSD had failed! So I replaced it with an old HDD (because that’s what I had on hand) and installed Debian directly via QEMU on the drive, since the PC was already open and I didn’t feel like using USB boot.

System: Debian (stable) + XFCE (nicely set up)
Programs: Learning software for elementary school and lower secondary school plus a few games
Browser: Firefox hardened with policies.json, all settings and addon installation blocked, only the addons I installed (uBlock, Ecosia, etc.) are allowed
Control: Screen time managed via Timekpr-next
Security: Instagram, Facebook, etc. and especially TikTok blocked via hosts; adult sites filtered via OpenDNS FamilyShield

#Debian #Linux #KidsPC #QEMU #XFCE #Firefox #BrowserSecurity #ScreenTime #ParentalControl #SafeInternet #OpenSource #Privacy #NoTikTok #LearningPC #FamilySafe #FilteredInternet
Apr 3 at 12:37amWeb
Show threadLinaApr 3
Great! This means your nephew will have a reason to figure out how his computer works on his own, and eventually, he'll be able to bypass all those unnecessary blockers! ;))
Show threadPsychoticSheepApr 3
Please don’t laugh, but that’s exactly the goal! I deliberately left “gaps” open… despite the network manager being locked down for everyone except root, they can break out because I didn’t route all other DNS resolvers into oblivion ;) alternative frontends for Instagram etc. aren’t blocked either! chmod isn’t restricted for normal users either, so they could simply download Firefox as an AppImage and enable DoH there…

I want them to ask themselves three things:
1.) “Why is this restricted?”
2.) “How can I bypass it?”
3.) “How does it actually work?”

And if they manage to bypass the restrictions, they’ve almost certainly learned:
1.) how networks work
2.) what DNS actually does
3.) how operating systems manage permissions
4.) how to analyze and circumvent restrictions

Unfortunately, I don’t really believe that day will ever come :(

btw. VT-x, KVM, and USB boot (xD) aren’t disabled either, so the barrier isn’t exactly very high!
Show threadLinaApr 3
☺️👍👍👍
The problem is that modern children can bypass these barriers "too easily"—nowadays, all you have to do is ask Google how to bypass a restriction, and it will turn on its AI mode and give you detailed instructions on where and what to do...
Will this make the child smarter? Hmm... But at least the child will understand that the obstacles they encounter can be overcome! 💫
Show threadPsychoticSheepApr 3
Hmm… I’ve already packed up the computer and don’t want to make the restrictions any tighter now… but in the end it doesn’t really matter anyway, because the kids all have smartphones where they can look up anything they want, since the parents don’t care… I’d already be happy if they even notice that it’s no longer running Windows 10
Show threadPsychoticSheepApr 4
Ok, I ended up unpacking the computer again and tightening the screws xD I’ve now blocked everything except FamilyShield via nftables, just like Minecraft is blocked outside the LAN… I also blocked YouTube via the hosts file, which is a bit of a shame because the platform has a lot of valuable content, but since they only watch German influencers anyway, it’s not a big loss!

They have enough learning programs! If they want to become dumb, they can do that on their smartphones!
Show threadLinaApr 4
I thought you would unlock everything by giving the child back his freedom...
Show threadPsychoticSheepApr 4
They already have their smartphones and other devices anyway… at least on the PC they can actually learn something without constant mindless content…

The situation is unfortunately complicated… I’m just trying to save what I can