Family

This page describes some ways to configure Plucky on a shared family computer by way of example.

Basic setup

Imagine a family consisting of Peter (dad), Susan (mom), Edmund (school-age child), and Lucy (younger child) Pevensie.

The dad, Peter, wants standard Plucky filtering (blocking of images and videos by default, with exceptions that he creates himself).

The mom, Susan, does not want anything filtered.

Edmund only needs access to Microsoft Teams for school.

Lucy is not allowed Internet access at all.

Here’s how this family could configure Plucky:

1. Peter makes sure there’s a separate password-protected computer user account for all 4 of the Pevensies.

2. Peter installs Plucky.

3. Peter enables the system feature so that Plucky blocks Edge and other programs. He opens a console window and types the following:

   pluck + system
   

4. Peter them configures Plucky for everybody else.

   pluck + allow user:susan
   pluck + block user:lucy
   pluck + block user:edmund
   pluck + allow program:teams.exe user:edmund
   

At this point, Susan has unrestricted Internet, Peter has the ordinary Plucky rules, Edmund will only be able to use teams.exe and no other programs, and Lucy will not have access to the Internet at all.

But, one final step is needed to protect the kids!

Protecting the configuration

After completing the steps above, any of Peter, Susan, Lucy, or Edmund could change Plucky configuration. So, if Edmund was so inclined, he could simply remove the restrictions on his account!

pluck - block user:edmund

Oops! Better hope Edmund either isn’t tech savvy or isn’t easily tempted!

To prevent this, Peter or Susan have a couple options:

Making the device restricted

If Lucy and Edmund have shown themselves untrustworthy, Peter might also make the computer a restricted device so that only he can change the Plucky configuration.

If Peter himself is untrustworthy, Susan should instead

1. create an account on https://u.pluckeye.net/ for herself

2. make the computer the computer a restricted device.

Be aware that the person who first logs into https://u.pluckeye.net/ will be able to make the device restricted.

Synchronizing configuration for monitoring

If Peter is a careful person, he’ll create an account on https://u.pluckeye.net/ , and then he’ll start configuration synchronization like so:

pluck sync

That way, he can see the complete history of changes made to the settings (including ones made by Edmund or Lucy).

Using a large delay (meh)

Peter could simply use a substantial delay, such as 1 day, to make sure Edmund doesn’t try to change the delay while he’s supposedly doing his Microsoft-teams-based pandemic-time schooling.

pluck + delay 1d

Miscellaneous additional configuration a parent might want

While the configuration example above is pretty good, there are a few additional changes parents should use as well (unless they are tech-savvy and know enough to do otherwise).

Enable the nhb feature

The nhb feature turns on miscellaneous “extra blocking”, and it is recommended for parents who are configuring a child’s device.

pluck + nhb

Use the semi-conservative parent configuration

The semi-conservative parent configuration imports several other configurations that an ordinary Plucky user may not want, but that a conservative parent would. This prevents the downloading of programs, browser extensions, documents, and more from sites that are not explicitly allowed.

Note that the semi-conservative parent configuration does not enable the system feature, nor restrict the device. Both of these steps are recommended for parental control.

Consider using time boundaries

Perhaps Lucy should only be blocked from using the Internet from midnight to 10am.

pluck + when 0-10 block user:lucy

See when rules for more information on schedules.

Safe feature caveats

If Peter wants to enable safe features, he could run the following command.

pluck + safe

But this would cause all users, even Susan, to have safe browsing enabled in their browsers.

If Susan does not want safe browsing to apply to her, she can either

1. use a schedule for safe features

pluck + when 0-10,12-24 safe     # disable safe mode from 10-12 am

2. or use a separate browser from everybody else and “disable” it for others

pluck + nobrave

Because pluck + allow susan is in effect, even though Brave is disabled, Susan can use Brave for unfiltered Internet.

Final thoughts

This page is merely an example to illustrate some ways to configure Plucky. Please do adapt it to your own circumstance.

Do not assume that the configuration above is a good fit for your child. Depending on your level of comfort with computers, you may want to consider using monitoring software as well or another filter instead.