Setting Up Mac OS X for a Teenage Coffeehouse?

WCityMike writes "I plan to donate a grape iMac to a local church-run non-profit coffeehouse for teenagers, and would like to give it to them appropriately set up for the atmosphere it'll be in. I'm seeking advice on a number of fronts - what freeware or shareware applications would be good for such an environment? Should visitors be allowed to have their own accounts (presumably created by the administrator), or should I just set up one 'student' account and one 'administrator' account? If the latter, is there a way to prevent students from saving things on the hard drive (thus forcing them to use a diskette and/or the CD drive?), and/or a 'Simple Finder' interface extant for OS X? Is there existing software that makes this easier or more configurable, or is it all inside the OS? I'm fairly familiar with Mac OS X, but have never needed to run anything outside a single-user environment."

Good intentions misplaced

[agentZ]

You heart is in the right place for wanting to donate your old machine, but the grape iMacs are significantly less secure than the tangerine ones. Be careful!

Well...

[cot]

if they're anything like the teenagers I grew up with, trust them with nothing and they'll be needing lots of porn.

Word of advice

[toupsie]

Don't tell the church that your Mac OS X box will be full of daemons. They will get exorcized over it!

Re:Here area a bunch of tips for you

[drakos7]

"Yes, I would like to order one cup of Cynicism and a mug of Disdain for the girl at the iMac."

Re:Good intentions misplaced

[Lurker McLurker]

You call that a problem?

It's nothing that a good lick of paint won't fix.

Add some sort of movement detector

[Xargle]

so Fonzie can get free credit when he kicks it. Aaaaaaaaaaaay!

Re:The 1st install should be:

[LighthouseJ]

Bart: Got him!
Rod: No, you just winged him and made him a Unitarian.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

A Few Potential Problems

[bfg9000]

I've thought of a few potential problems:

Caffeine is a so-called "gateway drug", which can eventually lead to other things such as juice or even pop. Think twice before unleashing the power of coffee on unsuspecting teenagers. I wish someone had warned me when I was a teen. Look at me now, hanging out on Slashdot all day and drinking coffee*. Don't let it happen again.

If the Church is Amish, there may be problems with the iMac, being high technology and all. If they're against technology, give them an old Windows PC, there's less innovation in Win98 than a rusted salad fork, so it should be acceptable to even the most orthodox old dudes.

If these teenagers are anything like the teens I know, no matter what you do, one of them will have root access before you finish installing. Let them admin it, if you're over 30 they probably know more than you do anyway. It's sad that my non-computer-using wife can give me OS X tips, simply because she doesn't have to unlearn years of Windows and doing things the hard way.

* Even though the link between caffeine and Slashdot hasn't been proven to be cause and effect, empirical analysis supports the hypothesis. So monitor the system for warning signs, such as Slashdot being bookmarked.

Re:A great act of kindness!

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't care what you people do at home but leave it there, okay?!

Please, please, please keep your religion out of our streets, office buildings, schools and government. These are common spaces which we'll have to share with you even if we don't share your religion.

Re:Good intentions misplaced

[WolfPup]

I don't think security by obscurity is the best way to go about that.

Re:Good intentions misplaced

[babbage]

<elwood> These can't be stopped. They're on a mission from Gahd. </elwood>

Re:Well...

[digitalsushi]

There's something about browsing for porn in a church that makes the porn SO MUCH BETTER TASTING.

oops, hell's calling. bbiab

Lots and lots of Internet traffic filters.

[Anonymous Coward]

Also be sure to install tons and tons of filters that block Internet traffic that might contain objectionable material to Christians. You know, sex, rape, bloody murder, torture, suicide, etc. Oh wait, that would block just about everything down to http://www.bible.com/.

Nevermind.

church-run non-profit coffeehouse for teenagers?

[jcuervo]

Porn. Lots and lots of porn.

Straight porn for the kids, kiddie porn for the church staff.

This is going to cost me some karma, isn't it. :P

Re:Might wanna use BumperCar...

[smcavoy]

Shouldn't the vatican be releasing an banned list of websites that will automatically send people to hell for going to them?

chmod 666...

[DakotaK]

The Permission of the Beast!