| Centrify |
 |
|
 Latest News and Updates |
|
|
| 2013-04-11 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 19.1 |
 |
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 19.1, a single-purpose Debian-based distribution designed for Internet-only web kiosks and featuring the Firefox web browser: "Webconverger 19.1 release. Webconverger 19 brings you in terms of effort put in: printing support completely overhauled with a new printer API; restored NVIDIA WebGL acceleration using driver version 313.30; new support API which allows customers to send us their complete (non-browsing) logs for study to; raft of package upgrades; new prefs API, to override Firefox preferences, typically used for omitting print headers; Firefox 20 updates and Flash security updates; tweaks to our Firefox kiosk extension (version 45); printing properly provisioned. Thanks to a government client, who needs to print off Ricoh printers, we have greatly improved our printing offering." See the full release announcement for further details. Download: webc-19.1.iso (441MB). |
|
| 2013-03-12 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 18.0 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 18.0, a single-purpose Debian-based distribution designed for Internet-only web kiosks: "Webconverger 18.0 release. Webconverger is git signed and tagged '18.0' with the following new features: provisioned the proprietary Google talk plugin, which will make us more applicable in Internet cafes; with a Google account you can make voice and video calls; new fonts, you shouldn't see a missing Unicode glyph for your language, thanks to the newly integrated Droid font coverage; Arabic and Russian i18n support via the default key bind, through the boot Languages menu; Firefox 19; iptables= API described in filtering; showprintbutton API described in printing; 3.8.2 Linux kernel with better hardware support." Here is the brief release announcement with a screenshot. Download link: webc-18.0.iso (372MB). |
|
| 2013-02-07 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 17.0 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 17.0, a specialist distribution designed for web kiosks - now based on Debian's "testing" branch: "Webconverger 17.0 is exciting for two reasons: new installer allowing you the choice to install to a USB stick and whole base is upgraded from 'Squeeze' to 'Wheezy'. The 'install' term can be misinterpreted as a straight copy of image. Install in Webconverger parlance means you are creating a read/write store. When you follow the USB guide you are: downloading the ISO; 'dd-ing', that is plonking the image upon the USB stick, without partitioning the USB stick (this is tricky); the new installer allows you to partition (tricky bit solved) the USB stick and use it as a read/write store." Read the full release announcement for more information and to see a photo of the installation screen. Download from here: webc-17.0.iso (372MB). |
|
| 2012-12-11 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 16.0 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 16.0, a Debian-based live Linux distribution designed solely for accessing web applications: "Webconverger 16.0 showcases the proven DOOH Neon Web signage OS, under the new chrome=neon switch to Webconverger users. The only difference now really between the Neon and Webconverger products, is the extra monitoring offered in Neon, which would not be appropriate in Webconverger for privacy reasons. What's new: new chrome=neon and black background Neon theme; New homepage= expansions for WEBCID, WEBCVERSION and finally USBID for simple physical authentication in POS use cases; new noescape option for further locking down of install boot; update Firefox 17.0.1 and Flash update; bug fixes for https_proxy, xinput and disabling add-ons. Those using the install version, your will enjoy safely and silently upgrading to these new features and fixes." See the full release notes for additional details and links to relevant resources. Download: webc-16.0.iso (311MB). |
|
| 2012-11-06 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 15.1 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 15.1, a minor update of the project's specialist Debian-based distribution for web kiosks featuring the latest Firefox web browser: "Webconverger 15.1. Our new automatic upgrade feature released in version 15 works well. Git-FS has helped us develop, debug and test better, and deliver to you an experience that improves every day. Just like the web does. Install users don't have to do anything to get these new features. Live users should download 15.1 and ideally switch to the install version by installing it to your hard drive. What's new: new hosts= feature for simple Internet blacklist and whitelist filtering; font hinting for smoother page rendering; faster browser boot times; feature and security updates to Firefox to 16.0.2; security update to Adobe Flash player 11.2.202.243; various updates to the underlying Progress Linux system" Read the complete release notes for further information. Download: webc-15.1.iso (308MB).
|
|
| 2012-10-09 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 15 |
|
Kai Hendry has released Webconverger 15, a specialist Debian-based distribution for web kiosks featuring the latest Firefox web browser: "Webconverger 15 realises a design goal to seamlessly upgrade. A feature that no other Linux distribution has. Currently upgrades only works on the writable install version, not the live / read-only version that you will try at first. You might be wondering what 486: and 686-pae: mean. You should be safe with the default 686-pae: live kernel choice, though if it doesn't work on ancient hardware, that is what the 486 kernel is for. In the future we will endeavour to reduce these options and make the kernel choice automatic. What else has changed? Firefox 15.0.1; xinput= touch screen calibration API; log= debug API; restored i486 support for old PC hardware; chrome=debug for browser debugging and testing; fix PDF support which was accidentally broken in 14.1; restore printing support with CUPS." Read the rest of the release notes for more details. Download: webc-15.0.iso (310MB). |
|
| 2012-08-15 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 14 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 14, a Debian-based speciality distribution designed for web kiosks: "We have been hard at work and 14.0 marks several major enhancements: new i686 kernel, which should show better performance on multi-core hardware; NVIDIA 302.17 support via Bumblebee and VirtualGL for easing deployment; Mozilla Firefox 14.0.1, using the official distribution; 'noclean' API option for deployments where the default clean slate is not desirable (e.g. Granny's bungalow); 'swarp' API for mouse positioning; critical Flash update 11.2.202.238; better XRandR screen handling; time synchronization doesn't alter the BIOS clock; logging tweaks to increase signal over noise; better lock down." Read the full release announcement which includes related links and credits. Download: webc-14.0.iso (459MB, MD5).
|
|
| 2012-05-25 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 13.0 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 13.0, a specialist Debian-based distribution for Internet kiosks and other web-only deployment scenarios: "Webconverger 13 excitingly includes WebGL 3D accelerated support for NVIDIA hardware and security enhancements, as well as: search engine changed to DuckDuckGo from Google after signing a revenue share deal on sponsored links like Linux Mint; new boot API to override DNS; new API to support scheduled shutdowns; updated Firefox to 10.0.4; updated Flash to 11.2.202.235; updated dwm to 6.0. All users should upgrade to this release, especially those with NVIDIA hardware." Read the remainder of the release notes and visit the project's redesigned website for further information and a detailed changelog. Download link: webc-13.0.iso (426MB, MD5).
|
|
| 2012-03-28 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 12.0 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 12.0, a Debian-based browser-only distribution designed for deployment on web kiosks: "Webconverger 12 is the biggest leap forward this project has ever made. Highlights: operating system innovation, entire operating system is now maintained under git; new configuration and subscription service at making it much easier to customise your kiosk; new boot menu, with the ability to boot in a selection of different locales; Firefox 10 Extended Support Release; a new about: page that shows the running version of Webconverger; even better browser lock down and no more search bar; much better network handling; re-engineering of boot APIs like i18n; kioskresetstation works with blanking; numerous bug fixes." Read the rest of the release notes for notes on new configuration services offered by the distribution. Download the live CD image from here: webc-12.1.iso (538MB, MD5).
|
|
| 2012-02-08 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 11.2 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 11.2, a Debian-based, browser-only live CD designed for Internet kiosks: "11.0 was a great and popular release. Thank you! 11.2 builds on that with: Firefox 10; Linux kernel 3.2 with TCP proportional rate reduction; removal of confusing tab groups from Firefox, making things simpler; stop accidental downloads of unknown mimetypes, therefore saving precious bandwidth; for developers - build upgraded to live build a42 from Debian Live and source has moved to Github; 10 second retry on net error for cases where network isn't quite ready; more (non-free) wireless firmware - realtek, libertas, brcm80211 and atheros, which means your wireless kiosk will almost certainly work. Here are the full release notes with notes on upgrading and future plans. Download the live CD image from here: webc-11.2.iso (257MB, MD5).
|
|
| 2012-01-12 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 11.0 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 11.0, a web browser-only specialist distribution for Internet kiosks. The new version comes with updated Linux kernel version 3.1.8, Firefox 9.0.1, and several minor security-related tweaks. From the release notes: "I'm very proud to announce Webconverger 11, with the following improvements: Firefox 9; ability to change browser chrome options at boot time; quieter boots; several enhancements on the Firefox Webconverger extension; security tweaks to make the control script harder to override; new logo and site design; networking interface naming bug spotted and fixed. Do have a look at our new public statistics site, detailing Webconverger usage. New users please download Webconverger and test out if it's a good public kiosk solution for your community. We have a friendly support group if you have any questions." Download the live CD image from here: webc-11.0.iso (254MB, MD5).
|
|
| 2011-12-19 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 10.2 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 10.2, a Debian-based live CD designed for Internet kiosks: "Without further delay may I present Webconverger 10 with an accompanying site redesign. At 9.0 - 10.2 you will notice the usual Flash update, Firefox 8, additional firmware for Ralink wireless and quite a few removed packages. The removed packages are mostly unnecessary for trying Webconverger. I think it's better to customise Webconverger with your chosen locale than altering the boot menu and then choosing the appropriate dictionary once Webconverger is booted. Likewise printing is best left as a customisation option, as it makes the initial download a bit too bulky otherwise. There are a couple of other additions in this release that warrant blog posts in the new year." Here is the complete release announcement with a screenshot. Download: webc-10.2.iso (253MB, MD5).
|
|
| 2011-06-19 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 8.0 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 8.0, a Debian-based live CD for web kiosks, with Firefox 4, designed for deployments in places like offices or Internet cafés where only web applications are used: "Webconverger 8.0 allows you to deploy Firefox 4.0.1 in a kiosk environment. This release uses a lot of up-to-date Debian packages from Progress Linux. Between 7.2 to 8.0 there are several highlights such as: Firefox 4.0.1, updated Adobe Flash to 10.3.181.26, 2.6.39 Linux kernel, a few extra locales like South African English. Security has been tightened up by removing terminals, though there are probably ways of downloading 32-bit terminals for execution that could be blocked. There is a known issue where sometimes Webconverger boots without loading the browser. This is a strange intermittent problem that needs debugging. If it happens to you, please try booting again." Read the rest of the release notes for further information. Download: webc-8.0.iso (335MB, MD5).
|
|
| 2010-11-07 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 7.0 |
|
Kai Hendry announced the release of Webconverger 7.0, a Debian-based live "kiosk" distribution that boots into the Firefox web browser. The biggest change of this release is the base system update from Debian "Lenny" to Debian "Squeeze": "Webconverger 7.0 marks a huge milestone for the Webconverger browser-only operating system, since the Debian base system has upgraded from 'Lenny' to Squeeze'. The 6.2 to 7.0 changelog has several highlights such as: upgrade from Mozilla Firefox 3.5.8 to 3.6.12; switch from Splashy boot animation to Plymouth; upgrade from Adobe Flash 10.1 to Flash 10.2; faster booting thanks to Debian Live's live-boot and live-config. There has been a community discussed privacy change whereby Webconverger 7 reports its version to a ping service." Here is the brief release announcement with a screenshot and some relevant links. Download the live DVD/USB image from here: webc-7.0.iso (255MB).
|
|
| 2009-12-13 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 5.8 |
|
Kai Hendry has released Webconverger 5.8, a specialist, Debian-based distribution for web kiosks, with Firefox as the only available desktop application. What's new in this release? "The big difference with this release is using i686 builds instead of i486. This means that Webconverger will not boot on very old PCs and some cheap CPUs like Geode. If this is problem for you, let me know! For the rest of us with i686-compatible hardware, Webconverger should be a litter faster. In other news, the spelling from the previous release 5.7 with Firefox 3.5 should now be working for you. The CJK support might not quite work on these free images; however, if you purchase Webconverger with Chinese (or Korean or Japanese) support I will ensure all the relevant fonts and input tools are pre-installed." Check out the release notes for further information. Download (MD5) the live CD or the live USB image from here: webc-5.8.iso (227MB), webc-5.8.img (234MB).
|
|
| 2009-11-09 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 5.7 |
|
Kai Hendry has released Webconverger 5.7, a Debian-based distribution for web kiosks with the Firefox web browser as the only application: "Webconverger 5.7 features a Debian 'Lenny' back-ported Firefox 3.5 build. Overall I would consider this release as experimental. There is a couple of new known bugs introduced with Firefox 3.5, namely you can now non-persistently change configuration settings in the about: URL and browse the local file system - this introduces possibly some security issues. I've disabled the Debian installer again, I am finding it far too complex and I am tempted to write my own simpler installer based on dd. I've enabled Firefox's Private Browsing feature by default. Strictly speaking since the ~/.mozilla directory is purged between sessions, this feature is totally unnecessary and probably introduces problems." More information can be found in the release notes. Download: webc-5.7.iso (244MB, MD5).
|
|
| 2009-09-13 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 5.5 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 5.5, a live, Debian-based web kiosk with Firefox: "Webconverger 5.5 is a much delayed release which is not as polished as I would have liked. Instead of delaying any further, I would appreciate you giving these experimental features a try and giving feedback on them: allow ICMP ping replies so that you can check the machine is up and running; allow for several home pages to be specified which get opened in separate tabs; noclutter added, which hides the mouse cursor after a couple of seconds of inactivity; several new experimental hooks to upgrade and setup CJK locales; a new PDF viewer based on ePDFView, which has a decent printing dialog; experimental option to install Webconverger onto a hard drive." Read the rest of the release notes for further information. Download: webc-5.5.iso (260MB MD5).
|
|
| 2009-06-17 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 4.9 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 4.9, a Debian-based live CD and web kiosk designed for deployments in places like offices or Internet cafés where only web applications are used. What's new? "Shows a new Iceweasel (Firefox) security update 3.0.11; back to Xpdf despite printing dialog problems, because it's lighter and integrates better with the browser (no EULA to agree to every time); Webconverger base 4.9 featuring wireless essid with spaces fix and a compose key option; known to work flawlessly with Eee PC 900. Known issues: hard drive installer is not present on the ISO edition (or any edition for that matter)." Here are the brief release notes. Download: webc-4.9.iso (223MB, MD5).
|
|
| 2009-04-27 |
NEW • Distribution Release: Webconverger 4.7 |
|
Kai Hendry has announced the release of Webconverger 4.7, a live, Debian-based web kiosk designed for deployments in places like offices or Internet cafés where only web applications are used. What's new? "Added iptables firewall; fixed UA string for Hotmail; file:/// disabled in the latest kiosk extension; removed previous wireless default to join any open network; Iceweasel 3.0.9; CUPS printing support re-instated with a firewall rule to allow for printer sharing broadcasts; Linux kernel 2.6.29 backport, which means even better hardware support; Xpdf dropped in favour of a working printing dialog with Acrobat Reader - there are some embedding issues when you first run it, [Ctrl+q] is needed to close the PDF viewer. Known issues: spelling language has to be manually chosen and doesn't respect chosen locale boot options; the Debian installer which only worked on the ISO version is temporarily disabled until the Debian installer uses 2.6.29 which supports Squashfs 4...." See the full release notes for more information. Download: webc-4.7.iso (255MB, MD5).
|
|
|
| Web Security |
Scan your website for Cross Site Scripting with Acunetix WVS and safeguard your WordPress website by signing up for a WebsiteDefender account. WebsiteDefender detects malware, vulnerabilities, backs up and restores your website, and advises you how to keep your website secure.
|
|
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
