Is anyone aware of any parental control software for GNU/Linux? I thought that I saw some for Linspire, but I wasn't able to find any.

If not, let's say hypothetically that I managed to get some big list of porn sites that I don't want my kids to access. Does anyone know how I can block all outgoing access to those hosts?

Thanks,
William

Hi,

A good way to do it is to use the SQUID webcache (www.squid-cache.org) combined with the filter plugin called squidguard (www.squidguard.org). They have a large blacklist available as well.

There is also a solution using Squid, but it doesn't require squidguard. Check http://members.lycos.co.uk/njadmin/. It may be easier to configure but I think squidguard is faster & more vesatile.

Added bonus with Squid is that it can also act as a cache, storing web pages and images for future use, so you can save some bandwidth.

When you use Squid, don't forget to adjust the browser proxy settings to squid's host (can run on a seperate computer or on the same as the browser) and port.
If the people you wish to restrict access for are clever enough to mess with the proxy settings of the browser (e.g. pointing it directly to the ISP's proxy) then it will be neccessary to firewall these connections, so that WWW access is ONLY possible through the Squid proxy.

Hope this helps!
nukkel

Thanks. I'll look into it, but after I try this.

Someone on another thread (no, I did not double post) referred me to another program called DansGuardian <http://dansguardian.org/>. I think that they may need to make their website more Google friendly, because I went through 30 results without finding this.

OK! Wasn't familiar with that one!

It uses Squid, too, apparently, so your suggestion was also right on.

I see... DansGuardian is probably all set up and ready to go then. It think it's your best bet! Manually configuring squid can be a pain to get all the details right

Good luck setting it up!

Actually, no, it's not... it looks really difficult to set up actually. You have to get Squid fully configured in the way DansGuardian likes, and DansGuardian doesn't seem to give much help in the docs on doing that. You pretty much have to know all of the ins and outs of Squid as well as IPtables in order to get DansGuardian working. I'm also trying something else that I found in a document on DansGuardian called squidGuard. We'll see how that goes.

Peace,
William

http://www.linspire.com/lindows_storefront.php?own=yes

Looks like Linspire is selling one that seems easy.....$$$$$$$$$

FYI, the company is still called Lindows, Inc. They just renamed the operating system Linspire. I don't know if I would want to switch to their operating system though. Their system requirements are very steep (worse than Windows XP even). If they made it so that their software worked on other distributions, I'd be willing to buy it.

Thanks, I knew that Lindows had one, but I couldn't find it when I was browsing their website earlier. Probably requires that I buy Linspire though.

Funny, they sell OpenOffice.org as "Linspire Office," which is a ridiculously easy program to install in its original form. I think anybody would be a fool to buy "Linspire Office" over downloading OpenOffice.org for free.

<rant>
Keep away from Lindows/Linspire... I read some ugly reviews about them... Probably the reason they renamed the product
Besides what's the point in paying a large fee for the 'privilige' of downloading free software (be it renamed/rewrapped or not) with little value added? A dubious business model if you ask me...
</rant>

I hope that this thread stays on topic....

BTW, that page seems to say that if you wanna buy it, its $39USD
(www.lindows.com redirects to www.linspire.com, BTW - name changed as Microsoft has sued them for too long and they are getting tired of the litigation - ask Mike Roe about that...)

I haven't found anything else out there that purports to do what you want to do (that hasn't been already mentioned). But, Mozilla may have an extension. Have to look.

Ah, threads go on tangents all the time, big deal.

Yeah, Microsoft used the classic method of "the man" litigation harrassment: if once you don't succeed, try in suing in another country, even if you don't have a case, until the organization you are suing goes broke or gives in to whatever you want.

Back to topic, if I ever learn enough about Squid, IPTables, and DansGuardian, I'll probably make a HOWTO on it and post it on this thread. I doubt that I will do it any time soon, though.

I couldn't find any Mozilla extensions for that. Shame, it'd be a nice thing to have.