2. One solution, and how it works

So, we want KDE's settings to be reseted each time a user logs in. In our case, pupils and teachers log on trough an KDM login box (K Display Manager, which is part of KDE).

From the technical point of view, there are 4 things to do :

1. the sysadmin makes a list of the users whom desktop should be locked, then write the logons in a text file (defaults is /etc/restricted_users). This step can either been done "by hand", or using a script (see below) ;

2. the sysadmin logs itself as a user, configures the KDE desktop of this user (we shall call him "proto-user" starting from now) : Konqueror settings, desktop wallpaper, virtual desktops, desktop theme, and so on... This user must not be used for daily work !

3. the sysadmins then runs a script (see below) that builds a fingerprint (technically, that's just a gzipped tarball :-) of the proto-user's desktop settings ;

4. any user who logs in starting from that point, and whose name is listed in /etc/restricted_users will have its settings automatically overwritten by the proto-user's settings (technically, we just gunzip the tarball that was built at step 2) ;

	You must run a Display Manager
	This system can only be used if your user log in using a Display Manager (such as XDM, KDM or GDM). But if you're setting up a terminal server, you're certainly running a display manager on your server.