Slashdot Mirror
Open Source Linux Based POS Systems?
tha_mink asks: "I am currently working for a number of clients that have very similar needs for a cost-effective POS system that may be integrated online. (read : cheap if not free) These are all small business clients with small budgets and so I would like to suggest
something Linux-based, with a nice GUI, and a database I can get at through the web (PostgreSQL would be great). I have searched for and read the past Slashdot articles on the subject only to find that they are old and out of date. I have also done numerous google searches only to find that there is not a clear leader. My clients don't really need things like payroll and purchasing but inventory control, accounting, and customer storage are important. So I ask: What systems are available to fulfill the needs of small business without breaking the bank and without requiring any software from Redmond?"
Why limit yourself to Linux? There are many nice POS systems based on Windows CE or Embedded Windows. In my previous job I supported both UNIX-based and Windows-based POS sytems, and I must say that the Windows-based systems are just as stable. The cost of the Windows license shouldn't be much of concern, because the cost of the POS application and hardware would be much bigger. I bet I will be modded down for saying this, but I am just telling my experience.
A Linux based POS will run on this. A WinCE system will only run on something that is less powerful and more expensive.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
Last summer, I accepted a contract with a client to customize and install a Linux POS solution based on L'ane POS, a Perl/Tk/PostgreSQL point-of-sale system designed for touchscreen-equipped terminals. The basic codebase was decent, (if typically under-documented) but since this particular customer had some very weird pricing and product bundle logic requirements, I ended up building them a custom app using Ruby, its Gtk+ bindings, and PostgreSQL.
;) may need to develop (or at least heavily customize) an open-source solution to really meet your customer's needs. Just like any buy vs. build question, you just need to look at the time pressures, special requirements your customers may have, etc., and come up with some numbers and feature lists for each of the options.
Needless to say, it was a fair bit of work to buird a full backend and GUI "while they waited," but in the end it was a much better-adapted system for their needs. So I would personally recommend that you keep in mind the possibility that you (or someone else -- I'm available for contract development work, of course