on Sat, Dec 13, 2003 at 10:41:34AM +0100, Philipp Schulte ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > Hello,
> lets say I have a few users (not all of them with prior GNU/Linux
^
'
> experiance) and I want to setup a common profile for their accounts.
> By profile I mean things like desktop-icons, desktop-theme, menues,
> MUA-settings, browser-settings, printer ...
>
> The users will most likely either use KDE or Gnome and applications
> like Firebird, Thunderbird and OpenOffice.
>
> I would like to create a role-account, configure everything for this
> account and copy all those settings everytime a new user is created.
> I know about /etc/skel but I am not sure if it's possible to use this
> because some paths are absolute in configuration files.
What files, and what paths?
I presume you're looking for a turnkey solution of some sort. I'm not
aware of one, though I suspect that some (much?) of the current
corporate interest in GNOME and KDE is just this capability: rolling
out a standard profile. To what extent have you researched this? Your
initial post and followups don't indicate this.
I'd look myself at a divide and conquer approach:
- What is my standard configuration? Presumably you've got a standard
desktop config in mind.
- What files _don't_ have personalizations in them? These are
candidates for /etc/skel or some similar default configuration
installation library or tool.
- What files have personalizations in them? These need addressing
either by:
- Allowing installation with user-specific configurations, or
- Pointing personalizations at a system- (or group-) specific
repository of configurations. Some files may not be amenable such
configuration.
As for _how_ to provide for user-specific configurations, what you're
essentially asking for is a templating system. I suspect that most of
the tools you're looking at already have existing templates. Some of
these, if well-designed, may already be configured to look at /usr/local
paths as well as /usr, for configurations, and take /usr/local by
preference.
Otherwise, one simple proxy is to substitute shell variables where
necessary for current user. If your installation script runs as the
user in question, simply using "${USER}" within the context of a shell
script or here document may be sufficient.
Peace.
--
Karsten M. Self <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
What Part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?
First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up, because I
wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak
up, because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I
didn't speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.
-- Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945
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