A framework for making thin and light Linux based images for x86 based PC's, thin clients, kiosks, and maybe even your own Cloud VDI.
This project is maintained by Donald A. Cupp Jr.
ThinStation is a basic and small, yet very powerful, Open Source thin client operating system supporting all major connectivity protocols: Citrix ICA, Redhat Spice, NoMachine NX, 2X ThinClient, Microsoft Windows terminal services (RDP, via RDesktop/FreeRDP), VMWare Horizon View, Cendio ThinLinc, Tarantella, X, telnet, tn5250, VMS terminal and SSH (No special configuration of the application servers is needed to use ThinStation).
ThinStation is mainly intended for schoolroom, office, company or department use, but can be used at home (eg. for a silent PC in the bedroom that 'runs' XP on your workstation in the back room).
While ThinStation is based on Linux, users may actually never see Linux at all. If you decide to connect directly to a Microsoft Windows, Citrix or Unix server, the user will feel that they are running directly on the server. But, you can also have a local Desktop interface (with a local Browser & other tools).
ThinStation supports a Microsoft Windows-only environment and REQUIRES NO UNIX/Linux KNOWLEDGE.
ThinStation runs on ordinary PC hardware (64 bit i686 class). You may either reuse older computers or save a lot of time on workstation administration. Or both! An old Core2Duo with 2GB of RAM or better can be a perfectly useful workstation. And you don't need a hard disk - you can boot off the network and even have a silent workstation. Workstation devices (floppy/HD/CD/USB) and printers (LPT/USB) are supported.
ThinStation can be booted from network (e.g. diskless) using Etherboot/PXE or from a local floppy/CD/HD/flash-disk, and prebuilt images and a Live CD are available. The thin client configuration can be local or centralized to simplify management.
The latest stable release is version 6.3.2. There is a new 7.0.0 version that I am testing and I would also like some feedback for here. Note that it is an installer for a VM or baremetal. The source is available at github in the thinstation-ng repo. Please be aware that not all docs have been updated yet, but all basic concepts apply.
To learn more about ThinStation, please
ThinStation-SB-UEFI-CA.cer [Fingerprint] 3F:0C:A4:8C:90:54:18:61:6E:90 68:82:DF:78:F5:30:C9:00:FB:09