<?xml version="1.0"?>
<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/" type="topic" id="software-installation">
  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="index#controls"/>
    <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"/>
    <desc>Restricting the software a child user can install, or preventing them installing additional software entirely.</desc>
  </info>

  <title>Restricting Software Installation</title>

  <p>You can prevent a user from installing additional software, either for the
    entire system, or just for themselves. They will still be able to search for
    new software to install, but will need an administrator to authorize the
    installation when they try to install an application.</p>

  <p>Additionally, you can restrict which software a user can browse or search
    for in the <app>Software</app> catalog by age categories.</p>

  <p>To prevent a user from running an application which has already been
    installed, see <link xref="restricting-applications"/>.</p>

  <section id="installation">
    <title>Preventing Software Installation</title>

    <p>To prevent a user from installing additional software:</p>
    <steps>
      <item><p>Open the <app>Parental Controls</app> application.</p></item>
      <item><p>Select the user in the tabs at the top.</p></item>
      <item><p>Enable the <gui style="checkbox">Restrict Application Installation</gui> checkbox.</p></item>
      <item><p>Or enable the <gui style="checkbox">Restrict Application Installation for Others</gui> checkbox.</p></item>
    </steps>

    <p>The <gui style="checkbox">Restrict Application Installation for Others</gui>
      checkbox allows the user to install additional software for themselves, but
      prevents that software from being made available to other users. It could be
      used, for example, if there were two child users, one of whom is mature
      enough to be allowed to install additional software, but the other isn’t —
      enabling <gui style="checkbox">Restrict Application Installation for Others</gui>
      would prevent the more mature child from installing applications which are
      inappropriate for the other child and making them available to the other
      child.</p>
  </section>

  <section id="oars">
    <title>Restricting Software Installation by Age</title>

    <p>Applications in the <app>Software</app> catalog have information about
      content they contain which might be inappropriate for some ages — for
      example, various forms of violence, unmoderated chat with other people on
      the internet, or the possibility of spending money.</p>
    <p>For each application, this information is summarized as the minimum age
      child it is typically suitable to be used by — for example, “suitable for
      ages 7+”. These age ratings are presented in region-specific schemes which
      can be compared with the ratings schemes used for films and games.</p>
    <p>The applications shown to a user in the <app>Software</app> catalog can
      be filtered by their age suitability. Applications which are not suitable
      for the user will be hidden, and will not be installable by that user.
      They will be installable by other users (if their age suitability is set
      high enough).</p>

    <p>To filter the applications seen by a user in the <app>Software</app>
      catalog to only those suitable for a certain age:</p>
    <steps>
      <item><p>Open the <app>Parental Controls</app> application.</p></item>
      <item><p>Select the user in the tabs at the top.</p></item>
      <item><p>In the <gui>Application Suitability</gui> list, select the age which applications should be suitable for.</p></item>
    </steps>

    <note style="important">
      <p>The user’s actual age is not stored, so the <gui>Application Suitability</gui>
        is not automatically updated over time as the child grows older. You
        must periodically re-assess the appropriate <gui>Application Suitability</gui>
        for each user.</p>
    </note>
  </section>
</page>
