shepherd-launcher

A child-friendly, parent-guided launcher for Wayland, allowing supervised access to applications and content that you define.

Its primary goal is to return control of child-focused computing to parents, not software or hardware vendors, by providing:

the ease-of-use of game consoles
access to any application that can be run, emulated, or virtualized in desktop Linux
with granular access controls inspired by and exceeding those in iOS Screen Time

While this repository provides some recipes for existing software packages (including non-free software), shepherd-launcher is non-prescriptive: as the end user, you are free to use them, not use them, or write your own.

Screenshots

TODO:

home screen at different times showing different applications
modern proprietary application showcase (Minecraft, individual Steam games)
emulated application showcase (ScummVM games, 90s edutainment on Win9x, Duolingo via Waydroid)
externally managed Chrome container for access to school resources
media showcase (local storage and individual titles from streaming services)
time limit popup
"token" system

Installation

tl;dr:

any Linux with Wayland (optional: TPM-based FDE plus BIOS password to prevent tampering)
System dependencies:
- Ubuntu/Debian: apt install build-essential pkg-config libglib2.0-dev libgtk-4-dev libcairo2-dev libpango1.0-dev libgdk-pixbuf-xlib-2.0-dev libwayland-dev libx11-dev libxkbcommon-dev libgirepository1.0-dev libgtk4-layer-shell-dev librust-gtk4-layer-shell-sys-dev sway swayidle
Rust (curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh)
binaries (TODO: deployable package that depends on Sway and installs the config)
test session on login
configure auto-login to this session

Usage

TODO: open lid; play

Core concepts

Launcher-first: only one foreground activity at a time
Time-scoped execution: applications are granted time slices, not unlimited sessions
Parent-defined policy: rules live outside the application being run
Wrappers, not patches: existing software is sandboxed, not modified
Revocable access: sessions end predictably and enforceably

Recipes

TODO

.desktop syntax plus rules (time allowance, time-of-day restrictions, network whitelist, etc.)
wrappers for common applications
how to write a custom wrapper or custom application

Development

TODO: ./run-dev, options

Contributing

shepherd-launcher is licensed under the GPLv3 to preserve end-users' rights. By submitting a pull request, you agree to license your contributions under the GPLv3.

Contributions written in part or in whole by generative AI are allowed; however, they will be reviewed as if you personally authored them.

The authors of shepherd-launcher do not condone software or media piracy. Contributions that explicitly promote or facilitate piracy will be rejected. Please support developers and creators by obtaining content legally.

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