Free Software for Cybercafe Management?

SantiagoRoza asks: "Hello, Slashdot. I am asking for your collaboration because someone I know needs a software to manage his (small) Internet cafe. Ideally, we're looking for software that is free/libre and multilingual (with a Spanish version), but I'd gladly take free/gratis and English-only. Additionally, the software has to work on Windows. After searching the 'net, I've only been able to find CafeTimer, which doesn't impress me. Nothing else out there looks like it will support more than 2-3 computers. Might you all have other suggestions?"

Comments

SCO licensing

[Anonymous Coward]

Ideally, we're looking for software that is free/libre

That leaves out Windows (copyright of Microsoft), Linux (copyright of SCO) and MacOS (copyright of Apple).

You might want to get your friends to write a new completely free operating system from scratch, that's really your only choice at the moment.

Re:SCO licensing

[MindStalker]

BSD?

Windows??? and Linux too... :)

[advocate_one]

CybOrg, the Cybercafe Organizer and it's Spanish/English to boot!!! what more can you ask for???

"has to?"

[Apreche]

the software has to work on Windows

Ok, most of the time I see this as a requirement there is an obvious reason. Sometimes there is an existing system component that is in windows already. Sometimes the target is all platforms and windows can't be left out. Usually you can hold all the linux zealots back with a very good reason why running on windows is a valid requirement.

In this case, I do not see such a reason. Why can't your friend's cybercafe run on linux? If you did run on linux not only would this problem of cybercafe software be relatively trivial, but the other advantages including security, would be numerous obvious and unecessary to enumerate. I'm not saying that there isn't a reason the cybercafe must run windows, I'm just wondering what it is. And saying the customers want it or need it in some fashion is not a good reason. Neither is lack or knowledge on the proprietor's part.

Oh, and to answer the question, there really isn't free cybercafe software for windows. Even the pay software is easilly cracked. The best bet is hardware control. you can get dongles with timers that cut off the mice/keyboards/monitors and allow them to switch on for set amounts of time. Some are coin operated also.

Also, with vnc you can make a hacky solution. Just set a passwords on all the boxen. Then to unlock them vnc into them and do the deed. Set a timer and lock them again when time is up.

Re:"has to?"

[itwerx]

Why can't your friend's cybercafe run on linux?

Er, games? :)

Openkiosk works w/both Lin and Win.

[geohump]

http://openkiosk.sourceforge.net/ This package may do what you want. It has clients for both Windows and Linux boxes. I believe that it may need a Linux server to control things, but I'm not sure.

WTF does that have to do with it?

[leonbrooks]

I whomped up a Linux-based cafe system called lincaf, going to be uploaded somewhere public soon (weeks) and it's GPLed.

• While we were testing it, two girls who had never seen Linux before trotted up, sat down, and edited up their CVs, one on OpenOffice Writer and one on KWord, and they never noticed that it wasn't MS-Word they were using. They were especially happy to be able to turn their CVs into PDF on the spot.
  
• While some sites require MSIE (and we don't provide it), one customer was delighted to report that while his bank rarely worked for him using MSIE at another establishment related to the one using lincaf, it worked every time using FireFox and telling it to lie about who it was.
  
• Another random customer who deals with GIS was absolutely floored that we were able to provide GRASS for him in a matter of seconds. No, hah, hah, not that kind of grass, got it off your chest now?
  

  He added GRASS-on-Linux to his resume and got a job the next day (with a firm that, oddly enough, doesn't use Linux).

This Linux system, despite being highly prototypical, is already far easier to maintain than the comparable MS-Windows systems at peer establishments, which regularly break, and regularly hand out free time despite being heavily locked down and Sherrif carded.