[WEB4LIB] RealPlayer on public access machines

[Chris Murphy]

"Small Candice B." wrote:
> I'm interested in learning about libraries' experiences with RealPlayer
> installed on public access machines.  A search of the archive revealed a
> discussion in the spring about possible security holes left by
> RealPlayer, and of course there is the annoyance of having Real place
> its icons and files all over your machine.  I am specifically interested
> in bandwidth problems.  I've heard more than one librarian say s/he will
> not put RealPlayer on the network because it will slow down the entire
> building's Internet use.  And then I've heard librarians say that they
> have RealPlayer on numerous machines and never noticed a problem.  I'd
> be very interested in hearing from people who have installed RealPlayer
> on patrons' stations.

We install RealPlayer on all our public Internet workstations, and it gets used quite a bit. Our patron base includes many seasonal and temporary workers, especially from other countries, and they use RealPlayer to listen to music and view news broadcasts unavailable locally.

We have had no bandwidth or security problems to date (we use security software to control the Windows desktop and Windows Explorer).

We deal with RealPlayer's bad habits of placing icons, bookmarks, and "upgraded" files on the PCs by also installing utilities to disable permanent saves to the hard disk (we use DeepFreeze or HDD Sheriff). A simple reboot removes all icons, files, etc.

Chris Murphy

-- 
Christopher Murphy
Information Systems Manager
The Community Library, Ketchum, Idaho
chrism at thecommunitylibrary.org
(208) 726-3493 x111
http://www.thecommunitylibrary.org