Free pc workstation software for linux

GWCC allows users to execute network utilities (ping, nslookup, traceroute) and workstation commands (netstat, df, process grep) from a single tabbed window.
Welcome to GWCC.This program is designed to provide an easy to use interface to your Unix system. I dont know about you, but perform the same operations over-and-over day-after-day, and the command line provided via a terminal window ceases to be very useful once you want to start doing something with the information - like saving or printing it.
In addition to having to know all the flags for all the commands you want to use, you also have to scroll up-and-down the terminal window to retrace your steps and to cut-and-paste (what was that IP address again?).
So, i hope you will find my GTK/GNOME-based point-and-click application of some use in your daily computing activities. Please feel free to write to me with any suggestions you may have (see Contacting The Author below).
Main features:
- Complete preferences system (no need to edit any config files, or know flags)
- GNOME support (session management, dialogs, menus, etc.)
- LibGLADE support
- Saving and Printing of all output!
- Highly configurable command flags and program behaviour.

Black Orion Network is an update and system management platform for among others Black Orions redhat-compatible Enterprise Linux Distributions. Black Orion Enterprise Linux software distributions are offered to you by the open source community as free software.

A program is free software if users are free to redistribute copies, either with or without modifications, either gratis or charging a fee for distribution, to anyone anywhere. Being free to do these things means (among other things) that you do not have to ask or pay for permission. Please feel free to make and redistribute as many copies of Black Orion Enterprise Linux as you like.

How It Works:

1. Obtain Black Orion Enterprise Linux

Obtain one of Black Orions redhat-compatible Enterprise Linux Distributions from the downloads section.

2. Burn cd images

Burn the downloaded iso images on to a cd.

3. Register yourself as a Black Orion Network Member

Register yourself as a member in the Black Orion Network section.

4. Install Black Orion on a computer

Read the manuals for the various installation options. The system can also be installed as a rhel4 virtual machine.

5. Connect your system to the Black Orion Network

Connect your system to the Black Orion Network with the up2date client installed on your system. You can find up2date by right-clicking the Black Orion Network Alert Icon on your desktop. Connect your system with your member name and password (see 3).

Pocket Linux is an almost minimal, one floppy linux system designed to quickly convert PC workstation into secure linux-based workstation using ssh to connect to remote host (other networking clients are also supported).
It supports bootp for determining host IP and other network parameters (theres also manual configuration possible, but bootp is recommended).
In addition to workstations equipped with a network card (ethernet or arcnet), you can also use Pocket Linux on a PC equipped with a modem. Modem is automatically detected and then PPP connection is made.
The idea came up some time in 1996 or so. The distribution then was not perfect, but still it shown it was a great idea. It wasnt maintained for about year or so, until I took it up again in the early January 1998. After a complete rebuild Pocket Linux 2.00 was released. It soon gained a huge number of happy users, whose ideas helped its development.
The aim is to provide a small and efficient workstation that autoconfigures as much as possible and lets securely use the network from almost everywhere.
Current version is a nice attempt and future ones will enhance the automation and support for various network equipment and protocols, becoming a total solution. Future plans also include side projects like one floppy router.
In order to understand some of the config options its useful to know something about operations that are done during bootup (in order to automatically configure the network). These are, in order (the later attempts are made if the earlier ones dont set-up the network):
- attempt to setup the network using BOOTP
- attempt to reuse previous manual configuration
- modem detection
- attempt to setup modem conection
Most of the config options switches these operations on and off.
Main menu
You can choose the following network configuration commands from the main menu (only the ones that make sense in the present context are displayed):
- Options - allows setting few binary parameters controlling automatic network configuration and modem handling.
- BOOTP query - attempts to configure network (ethernet or arcnet) using BOOTP. Normally its automatically done during bootup, but this can be switched off.
- Manual configuration - allows manual setting of network configuration parameters (ethernet or arcnet).
- Detect modem - detects serial port the modem is on and its parameters (transfer rate, initialization commands).
- Dial PPP using predefined configuration - creates modem connection (PPP) using one of (up to ten) remembered configurations. By default only TPSA (0202122) configuration is remembered.
- Dial PPP using new configuration - creates new PPP configuration and sets up a modem connection using the newly created config.
- Disconnect PPP - disconnects modem connection.
- Mount /usr via NFS - mounts remote /usr filesystem via NFS. It will be automatically mounted during each Pocket Linux bootup if its turned on in configuration options.
- Exit - Do not config the network - exits the program without configuring the network.
Configuration options
There are following options available:
- Probe network with BOOTP - switches automatic BOOTP probing during bootup on and off. On by default.
- Reuse manual network configs - if on, an attempt is made to restore network configuration during bootup. Netconf remembers 10 most recent manual configurations along with network cards MAC addresses. If cards MAC address matches one of the remembered ones, assigned configuration is used. On by default.
- Automatically setup PPP - switches automatic attempt to create modem connection during bootup on and off. Its made with the first config on PPP configs list. On by default.
- Reuse modem configuration - if on, modem detection is not performed during bootup - instead most recently used modem configuration is used. Off by default.
- Pulse dialing - switches dialing mode used for modem connections between tone dialing (DTMF) and pulse dialing. Default is off (that is tone dialing).
- Automount disk partitions - switches on and off automatical disk partitions mounting (ext2 and vfat filesystems) and swap partition activation during bootup. On by default.
- Add swap file if low memory - switches on and off automatical swap file creation during bootup. Swap file is created if, and only if, theres less than 16 MB memory available (including potentially activated swap partitions) and theres a disk partition on which it could be created available. On by default.
- Automount NFS /usr - switches on and off /usr filestem mounting via NFS during bootup. NFS path to the filestem must be set using "Mount /usr filesystem via NFS" command in main menu. Off by default.
Manual network card configuration
You can enter network configuration parameters in this window:
- This machines IP - enter IP number for this computer here
- Network mask - enter netmask here. If omitted, mask will be calculated based on IP (which will not necessarily be right).
- Broadcast address - enter network broadcast address here. If omitted broadcast address will be calculated based on IP (not mask! - which will not necessarily be right).
- Default gateway - enter IP address of default network gateway (router) here.
- Nameserver IP(s) - enter one or more (separated by spaces) name servers IP addresses here. Can be omitted, but then domain names couldnt be used.
- Default domain(s) - you can enter one or more (separated by spaces) domain names to search host if incomplete domain names will be used. Its optional.
PPP configuration
You can enter modem connection configuration parameters in this window:
- Config name - config name (used in existing configuration selection menu).
- Phone number - phone number to dial (eg. 0w202122 for TPSA access modems).
- Username - username to send to remote server
- Password - password to send to remote server
- Nameserver IP(s) - enter one or more (separated by spaces) name servers IP addresses here. Can be omitted, but then domain names couldnt be used.
- Default domain(s) - you can enter one or more (separated by spaces) domain names to search host if incomplete domain names will be used. Its optional.
Because of permanent configuration that is kept on the floppy you should remember to:
- dont write protect the floppy
- dont remove the floppy from the drive (at least during network configuration)
Enhancements:
- bugfixes in netconf reuse code
- disk partitions automounting, swap partitions autoactivating
- automatic swap file creation
- extended support for NFS mountable /usr
- PS/2 mouse support
- new startup logo

Phrealon is a bootable linux CD based on Slackware Linux 8.0 (now 9.0)designed to allow the easy imaging of multiple workstations.

It utilizes the udpcast set of Linux tools to accomplish this.

Fortify provides full strength, 128-bit encryption facilities to the export editions of Netscape Navigator and Communicator. If you routinely use Netscapes export-grade web browsers, (i.e. the ones you can download from the Internet), then you need Fortify. It is easy to illustrate why you need Fortify. Take a look at this diagram. Follow the links on the navigation bar below to find out more about Fortify or to download a copy for yourself.
Fortify is free for all forms of non-commercial use, including individual, educational, research, or charitable use. Please refer to the Copyright for full details.
Commercial use, or commercial re-distribution, of Fortify is controlled under the terms of the software Copyright, and requires a formal licence. However, the terms are deliberately simple, and, more often than not, they are purely a formality.
Organisations should, in the first instance, register their interest in using Fortify, via the contact enquiry form .
When comparing Fortify to alternative strong encryption solutions, such as SSL relays, SSL proxies, or Java-based applet solutions, there are a number of advantages which has to be considered:
1. It is more secure. A Fortified browser performs strong encryption internally. When connecting to a full strength web server, you have a true, end-to-end, strongly encrypted channel. With SSL proxies, at least one segment of the channel remains weakly encrypted.
2. It is faster. When using a Fortified browser, the data in the communications channel is not re-encrypted as it travels between the browser and the web server. It also has fewer network "hops" to traverse. And, unlike some alternative solutions, no supplementary Java applets are involved. All these factors result in better network performance, and less load on your PC or workstation.
3. It is simpler. A Fortified browser requires no additional certificates for its correct operation. Indeed, no other browser reconfigurations are needed at all. It is easy to install.
4. It is intranet friendly. A Fortified browser can be readily installed on a LAN file server and shared to a group of users. No further installation effort is required on each individual workstation or PC. In medium or large scale networks, this can lead to substantial savings in administrative time and effort.
Main features:
- In the Netscape 2.x and 3.x browsers, Fortify provides full strength, 128-bit encryption facilities. These are used when connecting to an encrypting web server (with the SSL protocol). Without Fortify, the export-grade web browsers are limited to 40-bit encryption facilities, which are substantially weaker, and have been demonstrated to be "crackable".
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- In the Netscape 4.x browsers, Fortify provides these same 128-bit encryption features, plus the ability to generate 1024-bit RSA keys internally (these are typically used for client certificates), plus the ability to send and receive e-mail messages using strong 128-bit encryption (with the S/MIME protocol).
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- Further details are provided in the following sections of this document.

OpenKiosk is an open-source multi-platform kiosk system designed for use in libraries, offices, schools, internet cafes, airports, conference rooms, and more!

Openkiosk aims to be one of the best kiosk software available in the open-souce community. The following prototype screenshots of the OpenKiosk client reflects its evolution towards the goal of acheiving simplicity and elegance in kiosk terminals.

OpenKiosk, is a system made up of a collection of programs that work together in a local network of inter-connected computers. It is a centralized management software for kiosks. It assumes that the resources are shared and centralized as well, including the Internet connection. This implies that the shared Internet connection to the outside world is assumed to be always on at some point within the local network, perhaps a NAT server. It is up to the client program to automatically limit customers individually from accessing the Internet.

When a customer walks in and uses a kiosk or a workstation, the client program obtains his/her login/user account information. It then sends this login information to the server, which in turn, verifies this data and if valid, returns the access rights and duration of use for the customer back to the client program.

The client program at this point, handles the restrictions transparently including preventing running new programs and making it appear that the Internet connection is down if the time limit is reached or if the administrator manually stopped a customer from continuing to use a kiosk/workstation.

OpenKiosk is primarily designed with the multi-user network in mind. From a library containing 20 public browsing terminals to a large internet cafe or convention center containing hundreds to thousands of kiosks or workstations, OpenKiosk is built with components that are designed to scale up. It is not meant to be used on a single stand-alone computer

The Openkiosk system is basically composed of two parts. The first program is called NodeView. It acts as the OpenKiosk central server containing the client information database. It is responsible for administering all the clients on the network either automatically or manually. Monitoring and controlling the workstations can be done locally via the graphical user interfaces or remotely from a Java Applet in a browser.

The second part is simply called "The Client". It is the actual program that sits between the customer and the operating system interface on the workstations. It is the software which physically limits the users access to the Internet, network resources, the local programs on the workstation itself.

For automatic usage, it can take in membership card login. It is also possible to interface to much more advanced hardware readers such as smart card readers. The client is also capable of simple but important tasks such as remote shutdown, instant messaging, file updates and much more.

Presently, there are two versions of clients. The X11 Linux/Unix version, which is an applet that sits on top of the KDE panel (requires at least KDE 3.X) and the Windows version (Windows 95,98,NT,2000,XP).

Quantian distribution is a remastering of Knoppix, the self-configuring and directly bootable dvd/cdrom that turns any pc or laptop (provided it can boot from cdrom/dvd) into a full-featured Linux workstation.
Recent versions of Quantian are based on clusterKnoppix and add support for openMosix, including remote booting of light clients in an openMosix terminal server context. Earlier releases are still available; see below for URLs for downloads as well as ordering information.
Brief introductory information is available in a paper (from June 2004) submitted to The Political Methodologist, slides from the presentation at Usenix 2004 (July 2004), and in the earlier (revised) paper about Quantian that has appeared in the DSC 2003 Proceedings.
Quantian is an extension of Knoppix and clusterKnoppix from which it takes its base system of around two gigabytes of software, along with fully automatic hardware detection and configuration.
Enhancements:
- Kernel 2.6.12, KDE 3.5 / 3.4, OpenOffice 2.0, ... and more from Knoppix 4.0.2
- a backport of the openMosix-enabled 2.4.27 kernel and openMosix tools from the last clusterKnoppix release,
- very comprehensive support for GNU R with over 870 packages from CRAN and BioConductor, plus ESS, Ggobi, Rpad, RKward, RSPerl, JGR, ...
- addition of the Java 1.5.0 SDK enabling us to add ImageJ, Weka, JGR, Mondrian;
- plus a number of other new packages (inkscape, orsa, praat, wxmaxima, some more Debian documentation...)
- and still loads more of math, bio, engineering, LaTeX, ... software