139 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
139 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
# shepherd-launcher
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A child-friendly, parent-guided launcher for Wayland, allowing supervised
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access to applications and content that you define.
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Its primary goal is to return control of child-focused computing to parents,
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not software or hardware vendors, by providing:
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* the ease-of-use of game consoles
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* access to any application that can be run, emulated, or virtualized in desktop Linux
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* with granular access controls inspired by and exceeding those in iOS Screen Time
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While this repository provides some examples for existing software packages
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(including non-free software and abandonware), `shepherd-launcher` is
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*non-prescriptive*: as the end user, you are free to use them, not use them,
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or write your own.
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## Screenshots
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### Home screen
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TODO: home screen at different times (bedtime vs afternoon) showing different applications
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### Time limits
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TODO: GIF or video of GCompris a few seconds from closing, emphasizing:
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* Countdown clock
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* Warning messaging
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* Automatic close at end of time
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* Icon deliberately missing afterwards -- cooldown
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### "access to any application that can be run, emulated, or virtualized"
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TODO: show the following running with some subset of the above features highlighted:
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* Minecraft
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* Steam games (World of Goo, Portal 2)
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* ScummVM games (Putt Putt, Secret of Monkey Island)
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* Media
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Contributions are welcome for improvements and not yet implemented backends,
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such as:
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* Content-aware media player [TODO: link to issue]
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* Pre-booted Steam to improve launch time [TODO: link to issue]
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* Android apps via Waydroid, including pre-booting Android if necessary [TODO: link to issue]
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* Legacy Win9x via DOSBox, QEMU, or PCem, including scripts to create a boot-to-app image [TODO: link to issue]
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* Chrome, including strict sandboxing and support for firewall rules [TODO: link to issue]
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## Core concepts
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* **Launcher-first**: only one foreground activity at a time
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* **Time-scoped execution**: applications are granted time slices, not unlimited sessions
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* **Parent-defined policy**: rules live outside the application being run
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* **Wrappers, not patches**: existing software is sandboxed, not modified
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* **Revocable access**: sessions end predictably and enforceably
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## Non-goals
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* Modifying or patching third-party applications
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* Circumventing DRM or platform protections
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* Replacing parental involvement with automation
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## Installation
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`shepherd-launcher` is pre-alpha and in active development. As such, end-user
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binaries and installation instructions are not yet available.
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See [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md) for how to run in development.
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Contributions are welcome for:
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* a CI step that generates production binaries [TODO: link to issue]
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* an installation script [TODO: link to issue]
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## Example configuration
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For the Minecraft example shown above:
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```toml
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# Minecraft via mc-installer snap
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# Ubuntu: sudo snap install mc-installer
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[[entries]]
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id = "minecraft"
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label = "Minecraft"
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icon = "minecraft"
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[entries.kind]
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type = "snap"
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snap_name = "mc-installer"
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[entries.availability]
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[[entries.availability.windows]]
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days = "weekdays"
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start = "15:00"
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end = "18:00"
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[[entries.availability.windows]]
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days = "weekends"
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start = "10:00"
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end = "20:00"
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[entries.limits]
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max_run_seconds = 1800 # 30 minutes (roughly 3 in-game days)
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daily_quota_seconds = 3600 # 1 hour per day
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cooldown_seconds = 600 # 10 minute cooldown
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[[entries.warnings]]
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seconds_before = 600
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severity = "info"
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message = "10 minutes left - start wrapping up!"
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[[entries.warnings]]
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seconds_before = 120
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severity = "warn"
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message = "2 minutes remaining - save your game!"
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[[entries.warnings]]
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seconds_before = 30
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severity = "critical"
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message = "30 seconds! Save NOW!"
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```
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See [config.example.toml](./config.example.toml) for more.
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## Development
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See [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md)
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## Written in 2025, responsibly
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This project stands on the shoulders of giants in systems software and
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compatibility infrastructure:
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* Wayland and Sway
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* Rust
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* Snap
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* Proton and WINE
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This project was written with the assistance of generative AI-based coding
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agents. Substantial prompts and design docs provided to agents are disclosed in
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[docs/ai](./docs/ai/)
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