One of my technological obsessions is thin client computing. I absolutely love taking one powerful computer and making it usable by multiple users on less powerful computers or devices. Whether those users are physically near that computer, or thousands of miles away. I think this type of solution is underutilized in schools, small businesses, non-profit organizations, and even homes. It upsets me when I think about a school struggling to put computers in front of students due to a limited budget. I fear that too many of them don’t have an understanding that there is a much more affordable approach. My goal for this post is to show you how I have implemented this type of solution in my home and to provide you with information on how you can implement it into your own home or office.
In this post I am going to present to you how to take one computer running Microsoft Windows and share it with multiple users. Each user will have their own desktop that can be used while other users are also using the system simultaneously, without interference. Each user will be connecting to the server (the computer running Windows) with a Raspberry Pi being used as a thin client.
The purpose of this tutorial is to walk you through the process of making an installation of Raspbian Stretch Lite more secure. Which you can then create your own image from to use as a baseline setup for future Raspberry Pi projects.
This tutorial assumes that you already know how to flash a microSD card with Raspbian. It also assumes that you are already somewhat familiar with setting up and using a Raspberry Pi.
In early 2012 I found an article about the Raspberry Pi. All of my news feeds were filled with buzz about “The $35 Computer.” Ever since then my mind and my project to-do list have been filled with projects that the Raspberry Pi could be used for.
I often bring up the Raspberry Pi in casual conversation. People usually get excited about it and want to know more. They will often ask me questions that I can never adequately answer on the spot. I want to be able to say “I don’t have enough time to do this topic justice right now! However, I have wrote about it extensively on my web site! Please, take a look!” If that is why you are here, I’m glad you could make it! 🙂
After having owned and used many Raspberry Pi (Pi) boards, I want to finally start writing about it. Sharing projects where I have utilized the Pi.
I want this blog post to be used for both newcomers and slightly more technically savvy people who just need some recommendations for what to purchase and links to additional resources to get them started.
Please note that I make no claims of being an expert with the Raspberry Pi, Linux, or computer hardware. I consider myself a fanatic!