Another Win For Linux At The Cash Register

Matt Lupfer writes, "According to CNET, MaxSpeed, a California-based networked cash register manufacturer used at places such as Little Caesars, Goodyear Tire, CVS Drugstores and Harley-Davidson, will begin moving its product line to Linux-based systems. [MaxSpeed CEO Wie Ching] says, 'Linux is the wave of the future. And you can't beat the price.'"

Comments

cash registers are just kiosks with a drawer

[Jamie Zawinski]

I'd love to use Linux for cash registers, because I'd like to have a point-of-sale system that was cheap...

This all ties back to the I-Opener discussion: why aren't there any super-cheap Linux-based kiosk systems available? Surely there's a market for these!

Like cash registers, ATMs are also just kiosks with a slot. You can just go out and buy an ATM, you know: you're responsible for filling it with money, and it runs software that knows how to authenticate itself to the banks. There's no reason this couldn't be a Linux system too, instead of being overpriced specialized hardware.

momentum / critical mass ...

[timothy]

There's a big NUMSAUI ("Not Until My Suppliers Are Using It"] problem with any particular operating system, file format, interface, etc.

You still hear lots of "industry analysts" (mind my scare quotes; I know a lot of them are fine, smart people, but it's the bad apples that stand out) that say Linux "isn't ready for the enterprise" or repeat silly FUD about the dangers of fragmentation. (I'm not saying that danger doesn't exist -- only that even legitimate complaints are often applied out of context.)

And it's not just the number of CPUs running it, it's a) public acceptance, or at least that subset of the public which forms opinions about purchasing computers and b) jobs. If there are thoursands of companies using free / Free software to build their apps and run them on, it means a different type of job market than one in which open-source stuff is viewed as a novelty.

And, my favorite is that the more OSes are experimented with, the more incentive people will have to create documents / data sets that aren't tied to only one platform, which should make it easier for programmers to experiment with The Best Way to do things in pragmatic and not only experimental contexts.

Just thoughts,

timothy

Going overboard for a cash register?

[blogan]

I worked at a Little Caesar's. It was a few years ago, but the cash register wasn't anything special. You just had that small screen that displayed the prices. The input? A keypad with many buttons. Althought, we never used half of them. The ones we did use were basically overload by hitting "Large" then "Crazy Bread" or "Small" then "Crazy Bread". With a little practice on the register, you could punch in orders with one hand faster than the receipt could print.

I couldn't find the specs for their cash registers, but I wouldn't want an LCD screen (It'd get oil, flour, or just cracked by a customer) or a computer that required a fan. The (non-computer) fans always had grease in them, clogged them up good.

Even though it was a crappy system, people still had trouble with it (I was always ask to change the printer ribbon).

Maybe they're making it a different design than I'm assuming. Of course, having a Perl script to generate reports on various sales (you have to make reports on how much you sold per hour on average for the last four weeks, and how many of a certain item, such as medium pops, you sold each day). Disclaimer: I worked at an LC inside a K-mart, so the independent LC's may have different tills.

Also, my store couldn't get the damn Icee machine working on a consistent basis (it had a power switch, two defrost knobs (one for each side), and two dispenser levers), do you think they could get a Linux box to work all the time?

Cash

[Splitzy]

Why does the idea of open-source cash registers make me chuckle?

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Do not provoke me to violence for you could no more evade my wrath than you could your own shadow.

Re:Not sure I'd be bragging about that...

[JDax]

The U.S. Postal Service? C'mon, couldn't you have gone and picked an organization held in higher regard than the USPS? Like, say, oh I dunno, ValuJet, CyberPromotions, or maybe Juggs Magazine? :)

Wow. &nbsp The Zico! &nbsp As much as I've seen your many posts, I finally get to respond to you... ;-) &nbsp I bow down in humble admiration. &nbsp :-)

Okay... how about Accuweather and Linux (from some article I saw that I'm surprised didn't get posted on /. since it's along the lines of this confusing article about cash registers and Linux). &nbsp And don't say it... &nbsp "that's why the weather forecasting is so fscked up". &nbsp ;-)

Okay, here's one - Burlington Coat Factory. &nbsp This example relates directly to the article as this company uses Linux for their POS boxes.

'Nuff said. &nbsp ;-)

Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com

Cheers to you too... heh heh.

Re:Would you trust your money to Linux?

[JDax]

And then there's the issue of security. Yeah, the Linux community does a good job of patching bugs and other unintentional errors. But what you really have to be on the look out for now is intentional security violations. Going with an open source operating system is like giving out the keys. Whose to stop someone from passing of a 'trojan' kernel? These registers will be networked, so it's not like they couldn't be broken into. Scary.

Hmmm... I don't know if I've been sucked in by a troll or perhaps you should be modded up to Funny or whatever... maybe so. &nbsp But this is just an fyi anyway to those not knowing or if you are truly sincere: &nbsp Did you know that every fscking piece of snail mail that those in the US of A send through the U.S. Postal Service is sorted using a Linux box?

Just responding to your issues with security and not meant to be a flame... ;-)