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Linux To Run Sherwin-Williams Cash Registers
oilfieldtrash writes "According to this news article on Yahoo!, Sherwin-Williams will upgrade their point-of-sales systems to Linux ...
'Sherwin-Williams Co., the No. 1 U.S. paint maker, plans to convert its computers and cash registers in more than 2,500 stores to the upstart operating system in the next year and has hired International Business Machines Corp.'s services division to do the job.'"
If you think writing a POS is sytem that simple go for it! I've been involved with POS since 1990 (My dad co-owned one of two POS scanning companies in Houston from 1987 to 1995, I was his lead PC tech from 1990 to 1993) and I can tell you it ain't that easy. Sure, if all you want is a basic cash register it's not too hard, but when you get into scanning it gets just a little bit harder.:)
And a web based system will NOT cut it either. You'll need an X app to compeate with the windows versions out there. Plus you'll have to write drivers for the printers, scanners (those that don't have a keyboard wedge available), scales, cash drawers, customer keyboards and the other things people hook up to a POS system.
Been there, done that, DID NOT WANT THE T-SHIRT!
BWP
P.S. This is just retail, when you get into hospitality systems (ie selling food), it gets even worse!
Methuseus wrote:
... save time and money".
o ce ssing.shtmlr y/1,1017,5413 , 0.html?tag=134&sb=281r e/star/staroffice/6.0/
> Get an old (free) version of Staroffice and use it to convert the files.
To what if not text?
> but you have to at least notice that your argument is stupid and
> irrational.
DavidJA wasn't arguing, but was asking perfectly valid questions:
"The question is WHY should I "upgrade" to linux????"
and
"Why would I want to change to an OS where I have to use plain old text for my word processing?"
Instead of getting insulting, why didn't you just simply answer the questions? I'm sure there is more value to Linux than a vague promise that converting all of one's files to some unknown format will somehow "in the end
I'm also sure that there are a wide variety of file formats for documents to choose from in Linux, and a few word processors that can read MS Word files with a varying degree of success. I don't know about support in Linux for the more advanced features of Word used by businesses: such as mail merge, Word document templates, forms, and VBA scripting. Of course my knowledge of current Linux features is limited to my Zaurus; OS X is my forte.
These are questions that Windows users have that are going to have to be answered if Linux is going to make it on the corporate desktop. Answering honest questions with insults and ridicule is not going to help Linux get there.
For those who want some actual facts on the subject, here's some stuff I found on Google that might help:
http://www.linuxlinks.com/local/business/wordpr
http://www.canadacomputes.com/v3/sto
http://wwws.sun.com/softwa
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn!
See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.