Bug#894737: ITP: desktop-autoloader -- Accelerate Diskless Workstation systems by pre-loading a dummy Desktop Session

[Mike Gabriel]

Package: wnpp
Severity: wishlist
Owner: Mike Gabriel <mike.gabriel at das-netzwerkteam.de>

* Package name    : desktop-autoloader
  Version         : 0.0.3
  Upstream Author : Mike Gabriel <mike.gabriel at das-netzwerkteam.de>
                    Klaus Ade Johnstad <klaus at linuxavdelingen.no>
* URL             : https://code.it-zukunft-schule.de/cgit/desktop-autoloader/
* License         : GPL
  Programming Lang: Bash, XDG magic
  Description     : Accelerate Diskless Workstation systems by pre-loading a dummy Desktop Session

 This package will be for diskless Linux clients as you often find them
 in school class rooms running an LTSP based fat client environment.
 .
 The logon into and the initial session startup on such diskless
 workstations can be considerably slow, because all applications need to
 be fetch from one server hosting the fat clients' filesystem.
 .
 The situation gets worse, if 24 computers in the same class room get
 switched on simultaneously or the teacher tells the students to open the
 same application (e.g. Libreoffice) at the same time.
 .
 However, this issue only occurs to the first student using a diskless
 workstation that day. Other students see all applications launch within
 a fraction of a second.
 .
 Reason: once an application has been launched, it ends up in the
 diskless machine's filesystem cache in RAM.
 .
 This package, thus, pre-loads a desktop session of the admins choice and
 some popular applications. It does it before 7:30 in the morning only.
 So, combine this package with Wake-On-LAN to make sure systems are up
 and the desktop session has been autoloaded (and quit) already before
 the first students come into the class room.
 .
 This package will be maintained by the Debian Edu Packaging Team.