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If you aren't able to find the exact kind of solution you're looking for, I highly recommend Porteus Kiosk (https://porteus-kiosk.org/) as an alternative for this, it's free, open-source, and allows you to whitelist specific domains only so you avoid people using your OPAC stations as general purpose internet access computers while still giving you browser controls to navigate back on error pages. You can choose to have it use Firefox or Chrome as the browser, and there are a lot of configuration options to fine-tune things the way you'd like (I'm especially a fan of the automatic on-off schedules and being able to have each OPAC station reach out to a centralized config file on network storage). It's been a real set-and-forget solution for us!


Steven Hardina

Systems Administrator

Sioux City (Iowa) Public Library

(712) 255-2933 x2242

www.siouxcitylibrary.org<http://www.siouxcitylibrary.org/>



________________________________
From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Lolis, John <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, February 8, 2024 2:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [CODE4LIB] Custom Browser Message?


CAUTION: This email originated from OUTSIDE of the organization. Please verify the sender and use caution if the message contains any attachments, links, or requests for information as this person may NOT be who they claim. If you are asked for your username and password, please call WCICC and DO NOT ENTER any data.

Prithee, might one of you be able to point me in the right direction with
regard to modifying a browser error message, specifically a DNS error/site
not found message?

Here's the rub... in an effort to prevent use of our OPACs as public access
computers, I've modified their DNS settings so that they only look to
themselves for DNS queries. In their hosts file, I only added entries for
our catalog, our website and our museum pass reservation site.

So this effectively prevents access to all other sites (unless of course
someone happens to know the IP address of another site).

The problem is that the browser returns the DNS error/site not found
message, and there are no browser controls to go back since it's in kiosk
mode. We have a label advising patrons to press ALT¡ö to go back to the
previous page, but what I'd like to do is use a hex editor to modify the
default browser error to communicate the same thing.

So my question is, does anyone know where I can find those messages so I
can edit them? I've searched all sorts of Firefox files to no avail so
far. I'm not completely averse to using a different browser, although my
preference is to *not* use Chrome or Edge.

I also realize that whatever string I replace the error message with, it
must be the same length (this brings back memories of working at Prodigy
and editing command.com in MS-DOS so that it would return Bad command, you
idiot!!).

hmmm... as I write this, now I'm thinking of utilizing a redirect page of
some sort, one that displays advice to the patron, then returns to wherever.

Thanks much!

John Lolis
Coordinator of Computer Systems

100 Martine Avenue
White Plains, NY 10601
tel: 1.914.422.1497
fax: 1.914.422.1452

https://whiteplainslibrary.org/<https://whiteplainslibrary.org>

*¡§I would rather have questions that can¡¦t be answered than answers that
can¡¦t be questioned.¡¨*
¡X Richard Feynman
<https://click.fourhourmail.com/5qure95xkf7hvvo93wh2/7qh7h8h05vr4zrtz/aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvUmljaGFyZF9GZXlubWFu<https://click.fourhourmail.com/5qure95xkf7hvvo93wh2/7qh7h8h05vr4zrtz/aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvUmljaGFyZF9GZXlubWFu>>,
theoretical physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965