Parental controls for Linux

kenkku · October 3, 2024

Hello everyone.

I am setting up a computer for my little brother. Its going to be his first own PC and I plan to get him going with either Mint or Fedora. I have to admit though that I know nothing at all about any parental control software. I am concerned about him watching brainrot on YouTube as I have caught him doing that several times while my mother leaves him alone with her laptop. He's big into sports and is creative and outdoorsy so I don't want him to get stuck being terminally online like myself. Any and all software recommendations will be appreciated. I live in a different country and I'm visiting him soon. I won't be able to keep an eye on his computer usage in-person.

TL:DR; Need recommendations for parental control software for Linux. Primarily screentime and web browsing.

(I have also asked this question on Reddit but I figured I might as well get advice from here too)

kuregumo · October 3, 2024

You can use the native hosts file to block websites, basically just go into terminal, type

sudo nano /etc/hosts

then enter your password

now on each new line enter a trash ip or a block website and then the URL

like this lets say you want to block skbdtoilet.net

127.0.0.1 skbdtoilet.net

127.0.0.1 is the trash ip, it will just redirect you to localhost (which is blank for most computers)

or if you want to redirect him to something more productive like wikipedia, you can do this

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page skbdtoilet.net

(Note, i have not confirmed if the wikipedia link works with the domain, to be safe just put in the websites actual ip)

Also i'm not sure if you can do this, but you can setup pihole on an RPI to see and remotely block websites. another option is to lock him to a new YT account so you can see what he is browsing.

kenkku · October 3, 2024

3 minutes ago, fluffycat420 said:
You can use the native hosts file to block websites, basically just go into terminal, type
sudo nano /etc/hosts
then enter your password

now on each new line enter a trash ip or a block website and then the URL

like this lets say you want to block skbdtoilet.net
127.0.0.1 skbdtoilet.net
127.0.0.1 is the trash ip, it will just redirect you to localhost (which is blank for most computers)

or if you want to redirect him to something more productive like wikipedia, you can do this
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page skbdtoilet.net
(Note, i have not confirmed if the wikipedia link works with the domain, to be safe just put in the websites actual ip)

Also i'm not sure if you can do this, but you can setup pihole on an RPI to see and remotely block websites. another option is to lock him to a new YT account so you can see what he is browsing.

I have Technitium setup at home, I could probably connect him to it as well or setup a new instance for him. Thanks for the advice, I'll look into YT account settings and see if I can block individual channels.