I’m putting together a system for grade school level kids in an after school program. I want to setup the system to be almost a kiosk where they can only access the three or four apps installed for them but nothing else. Is there a suggested DE that offers some tools to setup a kiosk like environment or is there a good guide on how to lock down a desktop so once it is configured, you can’t make changes without admin rights?
for kids i think mostly get used is the sugar desktop 
its a kiosk kinda thing have no experience with it, but you can try it in Virtualbox.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sugar
and for parentcontrol think is timekpr need to have
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/timekpr-next/
the old timekpr is also in the aur, but this next is a revival i guess…
edit : some overview what it is (sugar desktop)
Fedora has a spin called SoaS (Sugar on a Stick) that you install on a USB stick.
Never looked into it, but it might be worth checking out.
Pudge
I only knew this from Fedora, I didn’t know it was available for Arch.
@joekamprad, @manuel, @Fernandomaroto maybe this could be a choice in our net-installer as well. (not for the upcoming release but for future releases?
future is always possible will see timle wil learn
The Fedora version is designed to be installed on a USB stick to keep it separated from the installed OS.
It looks like the Arch version is actually installed as a DE as part of the OS system.
I guess there are pros and cons to each.
Pudge
Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I should be a little more specific in that I intend to install Minecraft and Kerbal Space plus maybe the Gcompris Suite. I looked at the Sugar thing but it seems to provide an environment that allows for more than just switching between programs. In this case, I only want them locked down to just the three programs they are allowed to use.
Would be possible to configure with i3 maybe, but will be a little challenging … I would go for something like arch sugar and take a look on what it offers to configure.
for gnome you can lock also to 3 programs like
https://help.gnome.org/admin/system-admin-guide/stable/lockdown-single-app-mode.html.en
xfce not find a proper thing you can setup only that applications but to use of lock some things i dont know
I’ve been using Gnome for a LOT of years and I did not know Gnome had a kiosk feature. I guess you learn something every day.
Pudge
So back to this problem again… I’m looking at using the XFCE4 kiosk mode that is apparently built in. I was trying to follow these instructions here:
https://wiki.xfce.org/howto/kiosk_mode
I created the kioskrc file in the directory as the instructions indicate and added the settings listed on the page but it does not appear to have any impact on the user session. Nothing appears to be restricted. What might I be missing?
i dont know i need to look at it first
first view on the xfce4-panel it explain dat if you are part of powerusers to costumize the panel.
and downunder whatever is %wheel you must be root rights …
you have any session saved by accident ?
I have logged out a few times but never checked the “Save session for future logins” tick box nor have I manually saved a session.
tried kiosk settings to… no help 
i see some changes but its not enough stil use of as example reboot command in commandline
even now i setup a guest with autologin does not help much but that autologin removes the session start a new after a restart… will follow…
https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=5681
even for the older version didnt proper…
but as the xfce forum said, you can lock the panel also its in your xfce4-settings-manager xfconf , in xfce4-panel.
if you make a guest user with a guest password you can create a lay-out in what you need.
and in desktop settings set pictograp type to none , so it cannot enter a menu like with right, so in this case you can setup standard application on panel and lock that panel in xfconf.
got guest from aur, but it takes settings from /etc/skel after session it goes away it also dont help a bit.
set some other things but it does not go around also …
Thank you! I will look over these suggestions and see if they will work for my needs.