Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2026 20:20:58 +0000 From: Polarian <polarian@polarian.dev> To: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: parental control app for open-source desktop Message-ID: <20260309202058.44259115@Hydrogen> In-Reply-To: <d3ada075baffa8e122b597c0fa8bb88e06822b59.camel@riseup.net> References: <CAFYkXj=uyM9krGA-a6jFhzpHY7B6JZn1ditkZ4Zebf9kRLwdug@mail.gmail.com> <d3ada075baffa8e122b597c0fa8bb88e06822b59.camel@riseup.net>
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Hey, Ralf, Please keep Arch Linux drama off the FreeBSD mailing list, thank you. Tomek: I can't really help you with software choice, however there is a few options. Firstly unlike windows, non-privileged users on Linux can't really install or run anything, so obviously you should hold root, and they have a non-root account. A porn/ad/spyware host file could be installed into /etc/hosts, they won't be able to edit it without root. Obviously if you are okay with them having porn and stuff, you can change the host file accordingly. Theres many of these host files hanging around Github. You can also use pihole for this as well. As for screen time, this is a pretty pointless topic IMO. From experience as a kid in the past as I was raised in the digital age, screen time limits are more hassle than its worth. You spend more time adjusting the screen time, adding/removing time than anything else. Instead it could be better just to ensure that they are getting things done, spending enough time outside, etc. As for chat, XMPP can actually be really powerful here, if you have sysadmin experience you could spin up a prosody server on a RPI at home, or potentially use a cheap vps in the cloud, make accounts for you, and other family members, and one for them. You can then control the peering, and limit which JIDs can message your child(ren). But as with all things, kids will always try to outsmart you, and no digital solution will be perfect, especially if they get interested in computer science they will learn how to bypass in time. Might be best to be a laptop? Then you can give/take it freely, to have more control over it? I don't know, this is just some things I could think of. Hope it helps, -- Polarian Jabber/XMPP: polarian@icebound.devhome | help
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