Alex Nesling Ltd's FREE Web Tools!

Free Software, Including Operating Systems, Application Suites, and Tools!

We have performed a radical restructuring of alex-nesling-web-tools.co.uk!

This site used to perform one function, search engine optimisation. But search engines have now become sufficiently clever that they ignore such sites. Indeed they can give a web site a negative score for being listed on such sites! So we now use this site to offer a collection of FREE tools/applications designed by us (Alex Nesling Ltd).

To find out more about Alex Nesling Ltd (including both it's property & I.T. activities, go here!

Free Applications (designed & created in-house)

School.Machine.

There is zero cost of software acquisition. Proprietary software for use in schools can be obtained only with per-seat licenses or site licenses, both of which become very expensive for schools that desire to have more than just a few computers. In fact, proprietary software can easily cost more than the hardware on which it operates, and far more when the cost of license renewals and upgrades is factored in.

Students can be provided with legal copies of Linux (S.M. and/or S.M.K.) and other open source software for use at home at no cost to the students or the schools. Schools often require that students use certain proprietary software for their assignments without providing free copies for them to use on their home machines. This frequently results in "software piracy" by students.

Linux allows older and less expensive hardware to be used than is possible with Microsoft Windows, and it thus helps extend the life of old computers. School.Machine. uses a lightweight desktop (to be precise, it uses the lightweight 'Window Manager', 'Fluxbox'), which imposes little CPU overhead. If the user has a high end machine they can easily download and install a heavyweight desktop (see KDE and Gnome desktops for examples).

School.Machine. includes a set of applications chosen for the 11-18 year old school range. The applications are those 'typically needed for everyday work' (see below for full list), and is not intended to include every single esoteric application. However, if an application that isn't included with S.M. is needed, it can simply be downloaded from the PCLinuxOS repositories.

School.Machine information & download site

School.Machine.Kiosk.

Live CD versions of Linux are very useful, and lend themselves to implementing a kiosk type environment. However there are security risks with the browser unless it's specifically locked down. An unlocked browser, even on a live CD, can still store passwords, etc. It can also be opened and 'hidden' on a separate desktop or off the screen. By doing this it will still keep the session open. If a user hides a browser window using this method, any subsequent browser sessions, when closed, don't actually empty the cache. The original user can come back to the machine, reveal the hidden browser window, and access all the history, passwords, etc, from previous user's sessions. School.Machine.Kiosk is configured to avoid this. All browser sessions are forced to open in the same window. It is impossible to close a browser session and not close ALL and EVERY browser session simultaneously, regardless of their possible hidden status. In addition to this there are various other extensions and configuration changes to harden the browser into a kiosk strength environment. Even if the user forgets to log off, his/her browsing history is unavailable to the next user.

Live CDs also don't lend themselves to multiple user accounts. However with the nature of the locked down desktop and the kiosk browser, a single account is sufficient. The single user account includes a network application (LinNeighborhood) that enables network browsing. If the school/college has an existing Microsoft network, it can still be accessed, and it's resources can be used.

The applications include OpenOffice.org (a Microsoft compatible Office suite). Using LinNeighbourhood and OpenOffice.org (and various other MS compatible applications), the student can work on existing MS documents on existing MS servers.

And lastly, School.Machine.Kiosk. is configured for USB key access. Due to S.M.K. running from CD it cannot save to CD, but instead saves to USB key.

School.Machine.Kiosk. information & download site

HospitalityMachine

HospitalityMachine is an operating system and application suite, containing all the applications the owner/manager of a hospitality based business could possibly want. This is useful for clubs, bars, pubs, cafes, etc. The aim is to offer a complete, FREE (no operating system, application or licensing costs) suite of applications so a venue owner can install a file server, perform automated backups, perform office duties, design a website, design flyers, print posters - and be completely compatible with Microsoft Windows networks and file formats. The finished version is all this, and more. It can RUN from CD, without installing anything to the hard drive, so the user can 'see if they like it', and if they do, they can install it.

HospitalityMachine information & download site

HospitalityMachineKiosk

HospitalityMachineKiosk is targeted towards those venue/bar/club/pub owners and managers who want to offer their customers computers equipped with a fully loaded web browser (Firefox with Flash, Java Runtime Environment and Mplayer), and a PDF file reader. In other words a 'kiosk', and is meant to be run solely from CD. This means the owner puts the CD in the PC, ensures the pc boots from the CD-drive (indeed you can completely remove the hard drive!), and that's it - they can completely forget about the computer! Because everything runs from CD the machine cannot be 'broken', any changes made to the computer are purely made to the RAM, and are undone the next time it is turned off.

HospitalityMachineKiosk information & download site

To see reviews and more about the two Linux distributions described above, go here.

Discontinued Tools

Alex Nesling's S.E.O.

Included here for completeness. All the links on this page have been disabled. This is effectively a snapshot of what this site looked like before it became a place to offer free web tools. As can be seen, it was very different!

Our old design

News...

HospitalityMachine & HospitalityMachineKiosk

Due to the popularity of both versions of HospitalityMachine, we are feverishly working on updates. HospitalityMachine v2.0 will be a remastered version of Ubuntu, and will have regular updates and a simpler install routine.

Update! The updated version of HospitalityMachineKiosk has been completed! Details of the current version (v2.1) can be found here.

Custom Distributions

We now offer custom distributions! We have produced re-mastered versions of Linux for schools, training centres, the hospitality trade (including pubs, clubs, etc), I.T. departments, museums (kiosk display terminals), etc. Email us for details (costs, terms & conditions, etc): it.alex.nesling@ntlworld.com

Last update: 07 Dec 08