It was time to give my 7 year old daughter access to her own computer. She only spends about 30 – 60 minutes a day on the computer but it can be a challenge on some days when mom and daughter are vying for time with the family computer. As you already know I’m a big supporter of CentOS. However, I would be the first to admit that CentOS is not very user friendly and certainly not the best Linux distribution for any laptop or desktop computer. I have been hearing a lot of encouraging comments from friends and industry professionals about Ubuntu Linux. I know firsthand how difficult it can be to secure a Windows XP desktop in the hands of a 7 year old, not to mention how costly it can be when you start to add up all the software you need to purchase. I decided to load  Ubuntu and give it a quick test run. I was evaluating several different criteria including performance (running some old hardware) and easy of use.

I had installed Ubuntu using the original Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop Edition which required 242 patches/upgrades to be installed after I installed the operating system. I believe Ubuntu has since released a slipstreamed version (8.04.1) with the latest and greatest patches and upgrades since June 2008. The initial install along with the subsequent updates was very painless, I just sat back and let the software do the work.

I was very pleased with the performance and the easy of use of Ubuntu. Now I just needed to find some solution to help make sure that my daughter didn’t mistakenly end up on some shady website. I stumbled across Glubble, a Firefox Add-on which allows you to control which websites your children can visit. Your child can also request access to additional websites which a parent must then authorize.

If you are a parent looking to provide a safe experience for your child while he/she surfs the Internet I would highly recommend Glubble!

Cheers!