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Linux on a Used Cash Register: Reloaded

Posted by michael on from the aybabtu dept.

plimsoll writes "Hot on the heels of the original cash register running Linux, dumpster-diver Aaron Benoy has implemented his own GNU/Linux POS project with a twist: Ruins in ASCII, a late IBM 4694 removed from its case and reloaded with Linux to become a self-described 'video sculpture' showcasing 'an infinite loop of 180 distinct 7-second long video clips of various abandoned, ruined or otherwise vacant buildings and infrastructure' on its 9-inch paper white phosphor terminal display. Southern geeks can see it unveiled tonight at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival."

141 comments

  1. I, Republican by Spruce+Moose · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The three laws:

    1. A Republican may not injure a corporation, or, through inaction, allow a corporation to come to harm.

    2. A Republican must obey the orders given it by corporations except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

    3. A Republican must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

    1. Re:I, Republican by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 0, Troll
      Yes, but it's election year,

      Really? I think you're either naive, or you're forgetting about the third law:

      3. A Republican must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
      Given that elections would most certainly threaten GWB's existence as "president" of the United State, you may guess that he is trying every possible excuse to prevent (or postpone) these elections! Elections are good for Democracy but bad for the Republic!
  2. Interesting Art by techsoldaten · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I know nerds (I use the term with reverence) don't always think that much of art, but something to remember is that our original conception of 'art' was a purely useful thing.

    There was a time Westerners saw art really as a Machia, something you made and / or engaged in. Science and art were really the same endeavor for people like the Greeks. No division in our mental lives.

    For some reason, just the description of this project makes me happy.

    M

    1. Re:Interesting Art by Alien+Being · · Score: 2, Informative

      It makes me feel happy, sad, nostalgic, fearful, curious and inspired all at once. You might enjoy this

    2. Re:Interesting Art by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      We don't think much of art, because ninety years ago or so, art turned its back on everyone except those in its little clique. Try creating "art" yourself, as a Machia, and watch yourself get laughed out into the street by Real Artists.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    3. Re:Interesting Art by techsoldaten · · Score: 1

      Well, we can forget about those types and just focus on the Heidegger crowd. Philosophy majors will dig it.

      M

    4. Re:Interesting Art by sp0rk173 · · Score: 1

      We don't think much of [insert endeavor here], because ninety years ago or so, [same endeavor] turned its back on everyone except those in its little clique. Try creating "[you got it - anything]" yourself, as a Machia, and watch yourself get laughed out into the street by Real [endeavorists].

       The same could be said about virtually anything - including the geek arts. Actual artists will be the first ones to admit that anything can be art, and anyone can make art - that art doesn't exist outside of the individual and their perception of a peice. However, snobby elitists will laugh simply because they are elitists, and they don't want to see their time in the sun cut short by some johnny-come-lately, trying to innovate the state of the art. I see this EVERYWHERE in geek culture, especially slashdot, and especially by those who are really mediocre. Geek culture sometimes is the same kind of elitist cespool as you claim art culture is. Art is art to the individual. Fuck 'em if they don't like what you do. ...especially if they're hot.

    5. Re:Interesting Art by EvilAlien · · Score: 1
      Forget the Greeks... Galileo Galilei. Thats a better, more modern, example.

      As our understanding of the Universe increased, the worlds of the arts and sciences grew apart by necessity. The gap between the two and philosophy also increased. We now have the tools to increase scientific knowledge scientifically, not just by thinking, writing, and pondering.

      I think the distinction is a useful and valid one, despite it not being such in the times of the heights of Greek civilization, Galileo's time, or other periods in the past. I'm sure that what we see as "science" or "art" today will be different in the future. Perspectives change, its the nature of the beast.

      --
      perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
    6. Re:Interesting Art by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      Nah - if you got the skillz, you'll be accepted in no time. Art, lacking skill, has no such requirement. Merit-based societies [geekdom] are totally different from aristocratic ones [art world].

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    7. Re:Interesting Art by bhima · · Score: 1

      I think that should be "Real Artists (tm)"

      --
      Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
    8. Re:Interesting Art by sp0rk173 · · Score: 1

      You'll be accepted by the truely skilled, sure. But there's an aristocratic element to geekdom as well. Actually i differentiate the skilled (nerds, nerdom) with the unskilled, aristocrats (geeks, geekdom). Geeks are more willing to discount you simply because you threaten their place in the subculture, nerds will respect your skills. Example: Debian users discount gentoo users as knowledgable simply beacuse they use gentoo. Any reasonable person can conclude that they see Gentoo as a technological threat to Debian's throne. So, instead of looking at it's merits, they say it's the "ricer distro" or complain that it's impossible to keep up to date, no one should use it, if you use it you're a fucktard, etc. Same thing with geeks who use linux looking down their nose at geeks who use macs. Or vice versa. Quite frankly, I know some pretty brilliant computer scientists who use macs, and some brilliant computer scientists who use linux, and some who use both - even *gasp* windows. A nerd sees a computer as a way to get work done, a geek sees a computer as a way to enlarge their penis and climb up the ladder of their covetted little subculture.

  3. Not that cool? by KuNgFo0 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    From the hardware specs:
    Hardware
    CPU Intel Celeron (Covington) 400.912 MHz
    RAM 96MB PC100
    Hard disk Maxtor 6.4GB ATA/66 5400 RPM
    Motherboard Soyo SY-6BE+ ATX
    Display adapter SiS 6326 4MB AGP
    Pole display Emax Universal 104 Parallel DB-25
    Monitor IBM 9" Monochrome 4694 Video Display
    PSU Generic 235W
    Isn't this a pretty typical computer? Actually, probably a faster computer than many of the geeks on slashdot have? It's plenty better than my 486 personal web server.
    1. Re:Not that cool? by blackicye · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'd have to agree, there really isn't anything that impressive about this feat, given the specs of the system..IMO if it would be a greater feat if he installed windows XP and got its screensavers running on this thing. Maybe we're getting old and in denial of it? naaah *pats his faithful Celeron 300A box which has been running at an "astounding" 400mhz overclock for almost 6 years*

    2. Re:Not that cool? by Pantero+Blanco · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Pretty slow by today's standards (still better than my k6-2 at 350 Mhz), but, yes, there's nothing incredible about making a computer with those specs run Linux. Making different things run Linux is more of an inside joke or geek art. It's amusing, though not amazing.

    3. Re:Not that cool? by screwedcork · · Score: 0

      It's definitely better than mine. Behold the efficiency of open source!

    4. Re:Not that cool? by javaxman · · Score: 2, Insightful
      a quick google search reveals that the IBM POS machine in question does indeed include models with a ( from the above PDF ) "Intel Celeron 566/66". So I don't know if they have their specs a bit off, or if I looked up the wrong model, but the truth is the cash register is not *that* old, the manual is dated 2001.

      I'm not sure that makes this less cool, since
      (1) it's a freekin' cash register
      (2) it's definitely isn't your typical slashdot-geek's video subsystem.

      The 'found in a dumpster' bit is pretty cool, too. As is the 'retooled industrial equipment as art' spin. I like it.

      But, no, it's not something from the mid-80's or anything. It's 'just' a cash register.

    5. Re:Not that cool? by javaxman · · Score: 4, Informative
      I take that back. It looks like it has a pretty standard/weak video subsystem, and is certified to run Red Hat 7.1 ( kernel 2.4.2 ). Yes, you read that right, Linux is a *supported* OS on this puppy.

      The list of video cards used in the 4694 makes me think that the claim 'incapable of displaying anything but text' sound more than a little fishy, too.

      From the manual, again :

      v 4694-244 and 205/245 - Cirrus GL5446 SVGA PCI video controller (model 244's have 1 MB of RAM installed, which yields up to 1024x768x256, while model 2x5's have 2MB of video RAM, yielding up to 1280x1024x256 or 1024x768x65535)
      v 4694-207/247 and 307/347 models have AGP compatible video function embedded within the main system (VIA PM8601A) chip. Video RAM is part of system RAM and is reserved using the BIOS setup function. Once RAM is reserved as video RAM, it is no longer available for use as system memory. (For instance, a 32M system with 4M of RAM reserved for video will actually only have 28M of RAM available for system use (not counting memory required for BIOS shadowing, etc..)
      v 4694-2x6- ATI Technologies Rage 128 Pro 4XL AGP2X video controller with 8MB of video DRAM, yielding support for resolutions up to 1280x1024x32M colors

      frickin' Rage 128 Pro?!? I *just* retired a machine with that card in it...

    6. Re:Not that cool? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I actually run a 133mhz IBM Aptiva for GAIM/some web browsing (/.ing and what not). The impressive thing: I'm running a 40gb 7200 rpm hdd in it.

    7. Re:Not that cool? by n3k5 · · Score: 1

      they're little more than calculators with a cash drawer attached, but in a bigger store that has five or six of them, those calculators alone suck a kilowatt all day long. do these system specs have any other purpose than justifying IBM's price?

      --
      but what do i know, i'm just a model.
    8. Re:Not that cool? by boisepunk · · Score: 0
      seen in corner of screen:

      All your base are belong to us.

      WTF???!!!

      --
      main(0)
    9. Re:Not that cool? by ZosX · · Score: 1

      That's nothing.

      I got my fileserver, which is a Dell Dimension M166 (as in 166mhz) to recognize a 120 gig hard drive. Its been serving MP3s and acting a jukebox/fileserver ever since. Its pretty amazing that Dell even still supports this old beast. Too bad I could never get it to recognize more than 64 megs of RAM. if anyone reads this and knows how to get it recognize more, please drop me a message!

      zosX

      --
      zosxavius photography
    10. Re:Not that cool? by ZosX · · Score: 1

      Oh, I did do a BIOS upgrade. In case anyone was wondering. Such an old box would never recognize such a modern drive normally. :)

      --
      zosxavius photography
    11. Re:Not that cool? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A BIOS upgrade, how fucking 1337 you are....

    12. Re:Not that cool? by lazybeam · · Score: 1

      Hey, I had a Dell 166 (not sure of its other name, but it was small) running as my website (ddwireless) and fileserver for years. I only had 3 40GB drives in it, without any BIOS upgrade. The BIOS thought all the drives were 8GB or something, Linux knew the score though. :)

      It would never support above 128GiB (137GB) though, since that is a hard limit for EIDE before the new extentions.

      The site is now on a XP1600+, cutting render/database times from seconds to less than 100ms...

      --
      --
      no sig for you. come back one year.
    13. Re:Not that cool? by walt-sjc · · Score: 1

      Um, they do a little more than a simple calculator. This style of register is usually networked to a backend system that handles PLU, credit authorization, etc. It's a general purpose computer that has been customized for a specific purpose. Many retailers have custom apps written that do all sorts of things, such as DB searches for mulit-store inventory, handling special orders for custom items that have tons of options, etc.

      They are also designed like tanks - putting up with day in day out heavy abuse. IBM provides on-site service, and support - better than most companies can. Retailers are notoriously cheap. You would not have Safeway, Target, Walmart, Albertsons, etc. using IBM registers unless it made good business sense.

  4. To those who RTFA'd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Will this be better or worse than Linux on a Used Cash Register: Revolutions?

  5. geek question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why is the anode cap on the side of the 4694 CRT instead of the top? I suppose it could be anywhere in that plane, but this is the first I've seen this arrangement.

    1. Re:geek question by mikewas · · Score: 3, Informative
      It can be oriented in any direction. The major concern is keeping it from arcing. The best way to keep it from arcing is to keep it well away from anything else.

      Color tubes restrict how you can mount them. The guns are either arranged in an equilateral triangle (point up) or in a horizontal row with a pattern of red, blue & green phosphors to match.

      Monochrome tubes give you a lot of options. Only one gun centered in the neck. No pattern of colored phosphors on the screen. It's all white so it's just spread inside the front of the tube. You can rotate the tube anyway you want, giving you infinite possibilities if it's round.

      Old B&W TVs with round tubes made use of this. Most components were on a chassis at the bottom so it isn't top-heavy. Tuner & other controls somewhere near the top so it's easy to reach. Tube rotated to the side opposite the tuner so it's away from everything -- usually a bit above horizonal because the HV power supply will be at that end of the chassis & it's rather large.

      --

      "Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever." --Napoleon Bonaparte
    2. Re:geek question by mcstout · · Score: 1

      The anode cap is on top in every TV that I can recall working on, but if it was on the side in a couple I just might not remember it.

      Outside of the world of TV's, such as CRT-based calculators, radars, medical equipment, etc. there's a lot of variety in where the anode cap shows up. If the accelleration voltage is low enough (older 5" or smaller CRT's), it's just another pin on the base of the tube (but that's really rare).

  6. I can better that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about Menuet running on an ATM?

    http://www.menuetos.org/mjh/atmtest.jpg

    1. Re:I can better that... by MyDixieWrecked · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How about Menuet running on an ATM?

      here in NYC, a lot of things run windows. When you go to penn station, the NJ Transit ticket machines are running NT 4. I've seen errors on them in the past, they software that's actually driving the display's UI and all that is just a visual basic application. Sometimes they crap out or bluescreen. not very often, though. I've only seen it happen 4 or 5 times in the past couple years. It's really neat to watch them reboot the system. You can see it pinging all its ticket servers and stuff. I assume they have the servers' firewall configured in such a way as to only allow incoming traffic from known IPs, either that, or their attached to a private network. either one wouldn't surprise me.

      Even the Amtrak ticket machines run on computers. When you see the tech guy open the machine's case, there's a little beige tower inside with a keyboard and mouse.

      lately, everything seems to be running windows. Frequently, in times square, the huge animated billboards will be bluescreened. It's pretty funny. You'd think that software for made for doing this stuff wouldn't crap out. You'd hope that no one installs quake on these machines or any other non-related software, but I guess people do.

      I guess putting quake on the adserver box is to a windows geek what putting linux on a toaster is to a real geek.

      --



      ...spike
      Ewwwwww, coconut...
    2. Re:I can better that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Even the Amtrak ticket machines run on computers."

      Wow, I guess everything's running on computers these days eh!

    3. Re:I can better that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hear they have the Internet on computers, now.

    4. Re:I can better that... by MyDixieWrecked · · Score: 1

      erm, yeah... I meant windows... ;)

      i guess that's why they tell you to proofread before posting, eh?

      --



      ...spike
      Ewwwwww, coconut...
    5. Re:I can better that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I helped out my local mall folks by running windows update on failed store locator kiosk the other day. Amazing what you can do with only a touch screen and one button (mapped to the left mouse button).
      Maybe it won't crash anymore now that XP SP2 is on it.

    6. Re:I can better that... by ktakki · · Score: 3, Funny
      Frequently, in times square, the huge animated billboards will be bluescreened. It's pretty funny. You'd think that software for made for doing this stuff wouldn't crap out. You'd hope that no one installs quake on these machines or any other non-related software, but I guess people do.

      I'd love to see Quake broadcast on one of those screens above Times Square. Better yet, CounterStrike, with a CNN-style text crawl at the bottom of the screen:
      ...Cease fire in Iraq breaks down...Shia militia resorts to bunny-hop tactics...AWP Wh0r3 wounds three...OMFG u ghey camper...

      If anyone can pull this off during the GOP convention I will pay them $1000.

      k.
      --
      "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
  7. What linux can run on Com386 20MBdisk with 1k ram? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mainly
    Compaq Portable 386 Either 10 or 20 MB drive (I forget at the moment), and only 1k of ram.

    Yes you hear that, 1k. Now what linux can run on it?

    how about a TRS80 model V? Junk now?
    a Xerox 80186 tower? 40MB MFM

  8. Reusable acronym by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Funny

    GNU/Linux POS project

    POS is such a great acronym : when the equipment is new, it means Point-Of-Sale, and when it's old and obsolete, it doesn't need to change acronym.

    Kind of like "PC", come to think of it...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Reusable acronym by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pisa Chit ?

    2. Re:Reusable acronym by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah , like you know "admission for one" to
      the Tower

  9. michael you bum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are an editor and don't check the link? gee ./ is losing some credibility here.

    1. Re:michael you bum by I_Love_Pocky! · · Score: 1

      Come on, where is the obligatory asshole comment that says, "You're new here aren't you?"

    2. Re:michael you bum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      new here aren't you?

  10. Huh? by temojen · · Score: 1

    What CPM or DOS can run on 1k ram?

    Perhaps you meant 1MB, in which case, the answer is uCLinux.

    1. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am the owner of a Toshiba T3100e laptop from 1987. It has 1024 KB of RAM, so "Nuclinux" was an excellent Linux distribution to put on it. Also, there is a possibility of putting Minix on 80286-type systems and lower.

  11. POS System by atlantis191 · · Score: 1

    Did anyone else find it funny when they read at the top of the IBM page "POS Systems"? Did they really have to use that acronymn?

    1. Re:POS System by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Point Of Sale. Yeah, I think so because the acronym is POS.

    2. Re:POS System by sp0rk173 · · Score: 1

      Cash Register doesn't work?

    3. Re:POS System by anotherone · · Score: 1

      it does more than register cash.

      --
      Username taken, please choose another one.
    4. Re:POS System by ColaMan · · Score: 1

      Well, how about

      Cash Register And Pc?

      A little contrived, perhaps.

      --

      You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
      There is a lot of hype here.
  12. yeah! by nbert · · Score: 2, Funny

    all we need know is a bunch of hamsters in wheels keeping this thingie going and we are all set.

    Since we're talking about ASCI - does anybody know where I can find this aalib demo just about anybody is talking about?

    --
    I don't read replies by ACs.
    1. Re:yeah! by KingOfBLASH · · Score: 1

      Get a copy of KNOPPIX. Open up your favorite terminal, hit aa and tab to find what the commands are, man it, and use it.

  13. Videos I'd like to see by Stevyn · · Score: 4, Funny

    Are people buying copies of the operating system it runs.

    $0.00
    $0.00
    $0.00

    --Your bonus card has saved you $0.00 this year. Thank you for shopping at Linux Mart--

    1. Re:Videos I'd like to see by PythonCodr · · Score: 1

      Are people buying copies of the operating system it runs. $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 --Your bonus card has saved you $0.00 this year. Thank you for shopping at Linux Mart--

      Yeah, I know it's a troll, but the money you save with linux (assuming you downloaded a free version and paid nothing) was the money you would have spent on another operating system, not some vapid discount you got for not paying "full price." Unless you believe you save $100.00 when you buy XP at $100 less than the suggested retail price...

    2. Re:Videos I'd like to see by sp0rk173 · · Score: 1

      Dude, if your total is $0.00, and you saved $0.00, you saved 100%!!!

  14. The sad thing... (slightly OT) by cjsnell · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The sad thing about this article is that we still don't have a decent, non-specific, OSS point-of-sale package for *nix. I've seen cheezy GTK-based "cash register" apps but nothing that can compete (or even compare) to Windows-based products.

    This is unfortunate. My father's company runs FreeBSD and OpenBSD on all of its servers but I still have to support over 35 Windows 2000 desktops here at our stores because there is no *nix alternative. Retail is the perfect place for Linux and the BSDs. Retail people need simple, easy-to-use interfaces and they do not want to deal with the problems associated with administering Microsoft OSes (worms, spyware, etc). I would love nothing more than to replace every single Windows desktop in this company with a X11-capable thin client.

    Thoughts?

    1. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Slack3r78 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I've run into this same problem myself. My father still runs his system on a DOS based POS solution simply because I've been completely unable to find a suitable OSS replacement.

      All I was looking for was a simple, NCurses based interface - a POS does not need X and the added overhead and boot time associated with it. I keep checking every few months, but there never seems to be anything worth the effort of migrating to. I've seriously considered picking up PostgreSQL myself to try to implement something as it seems like there's nothing coming out of the community right now.

    2. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Roll your own?? Balance the cost of windows administration or hiring a programmer to make software for you?

    3. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Walk into a home depot and look at the app they use.

    4. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by compactable · · Score: 1
      Sure we do - our friends at SCO are quite the player in the retail sector! Surely since we've given them gimp-print, mysql, apache, samba & others they're willing to give back to the linux community ... oh, wait ...

    5. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by diggie · · Score: 1

      Get a x-server with a descent browser (mozilla should do fine) and get a copy of O'Reilly's PHP & SQL books... How hard can it be?... (lend some code i f needed...)

    6. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by DogDude · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Retail people need simple, easy-to-use interfaces and they do not want to deal with the problems associated with administering Microsoft OSes (worms, spyware, etc).

      Our store would also run a Linux based POS system if there was a decent one available, although not because of any so called "problems associated with administering MS OSes)". A cash register is generally a single purpose machine running one or two apps, tops. Our W2K POS machines only rebott/get turned off when the power goes out. They're rock solid, but the software is expensive ($1200/workstation).

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    7. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by DogDude · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      If you have to hire an admin for a simple Windows based POS system, then you have more serious problems to address than the software itself.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    8. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok, I've seen this modded as interesting and informative- yet the poster didn't really even reveal anything.

      So the questions goes begging, what does HD use?

    9. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "The sad thing about this article is that we still don't have a decent, non-specific, OSS point-of-sale package for *nix.""

      Are you serious?

      http://www.linux-pos.org/ etc. Have you ever even looked up "Linux pos" on google. There are many stores which are currently using Linux in POS devices. Shit, call up NCR, IBM etc. Or Did you mean OSS as in open and Free with source, Professionally done sitting there on the Net just waiting for you? Because if that's the case I suggest you forget that and call up any of the many vendors who deal in Linux pos and have them pay you a visit instead.

      "Retail is the perfect place for Linux and the BSDs. Retail people need simple, easy-to-use interfaces and they do not want to deal with the problems associated with administering Microsoft OSes (worms, spyware, etc)."

      Correct. Hence all the big chains going to Linux for pos terminals. Its already happening.

    10. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by DogDude · · Score: 1

      Or Did you mean OSS as in open and Free with source, Professionally done sitting there on the Net just waiting for you?

      That's what I was looking for. I can get Linux for free, a browser, email client, etc. Why not a POS system? As is all of the free, OSS ones are incomplete or just flat out suck.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    11. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by cjsnell · · Score: 1


      On second thought, I agree with you on the ncurses interface. The speed should be a lot better and memory usage a lot less. The problem is development tools. Are there any good rapid development tools for ncurses apps? I guess I should look into Java/ncurses and Perl/ncurses interfaces.

    12. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by cjsnell · · Score: 2, Informative


      Nope, not an option. I'm a very experienced Perl programmer but that's irrelevant. A Web-based application cannot open cash register draws, draw to an LCD, or print receipts...at least, not without a really kludgy server-to-client piece.

    13. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by cjsnell · · Score: 1


      I've been to linux-pos.org already. The problem with most of the available Linux POSes is that they are custom-tailored to specific applications. I've found POS software for gas stations, for restaurants, video stores, but nothing that is generic enough for our retail environment (bicycle stores). I need something that can handle cash register stuff and also work for phone order entry. This means that it must have a customer database (complete with address, phone, email, etc) and a speedy way of entering new information into that database. The product database needs to accomidate custom fields and the concept of "backordered".

      I'd love to have what Burlington Coat Factory and Circuit City are using. However, I'm not about to pay $4,000 a seat to get it.

    14. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Llynix · · Score: 1

      I actually started to write a POS system bassed on PHP and MySQL. I used to work at a motorcycle shop that really needed one. The shop ended up closing before I could finish it.

      I would not mind at all picking this project back up, and I still have notes and partial code. If anyone is remotely interested drop me an email.

      Really what I would appreciate is someone to use the software in a retail enviroment and work out the bugs once it gets polished up a bit. This would require inventorying the entire retail store. Something I wasn't quite looking foward to.

    15. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      Really should not be all that hard to write. You could do it in Perl/Python/PHP a PostgresSQL or MySql backend and as they say Bobs your uncle.

      The whole point of OSS is that people that need a solution write it and share it with others.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    16. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by ripleymj · · Score: 1

      Not quite sure which portions are supported on Linux, but Synchronics Counterpoint lists Linux/Unix/Netware in the System Requirements. Might only be server-side though.

    17. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It depends on how large your business is. If it is a multi-store franchise, rolling your own becomes an option.

    18. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It depends on how much accounting and tracking you want your POS to do. You could create a cash-register replacement in a week, but many POS applications offer much more than that.

    19. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Llynix · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Nope, not an option. I'm a very experienced Perl programmer but that's irrelevant. A Web-based application cannot open cash register draws, draw to an LCD, or print receipts...at least, not without a really kludgy server-to-client piece.

      I was planning on writing an extension to firefox to control a draw. And there are plenty of programs on the net linking a LCD with a webpage with input. As for printing, css can handle that. The program could even have predefined label sets that work. As an added bonus, I was planning on accepting bar code reader input, and integrating with credit card companies. I did my homework, and from working three years in that dreaded shop I know what a POS needs.

      Main reason I wanted to go PHP, was people seem to know how to use a webpage. Also you can easily integrate it with an online site.

    20. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by 80N · · Score: 1
      Web-based application cannot open cash register draws, draw to an LCD, or print receipts...

      Well, actually I just saw a web-based cash register app.

      It comprises of Slackware 9.1, Mozilla Firebird (using a very tiny bit of XUL), GT.M (for local data caching and server comms).

      What's more it runs on very modest hardware (think 233Mhz) and there's nothing kludgy in the whole architecture (except maybe the XUL bit).

      80N

    21. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Nope. Not impossible by a long way.

      I looked at an NCR PoS terminal (7454 i think) a while ago, and it has a web based diagnostic tool. You can open till drawers, print, print stuff to customer displays from it, use the MSR etc. This was using the OPOS interface.

      Even if an OPOS/JPOS interface isn't available, Cash drawers usually run off a serial port and all they need is the correct byte send to open then. MSRs are usually serial port (or even easier, keyboard ones).

      Writing a web based PoS app should be fairly simple.

    22. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by walt-sjc · · Score: 1

      It can if the server is running on the same machine.

      In any case, web browsers don't make a good interface. POS applications need a lot more interaction between various peripherals and the display.

    23. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by FyRE666 · · Score: 1

      I have to agree that there's a dearth of OpenSource projects aimed at commercial usage. I'm currently writing a warehousing system to run on Linux+PHP+MySQL+Apache for a large haulage/storage company. When finished, it'll be up at source-forge. I don't want to put it there until it's working to spec though, as there's too many projects up there now that seem to have been abandoned half way through.

      It's taking me a little extra time, since I'm making the system much more flexible than the client requires so as not to chain it to their specific patterns of usage. In the end though, I think it'll be useful for anyone else who wishes to deploy a warehouse management system (multiple warehouses, each with X loading bays, X storage locations/types, handling X customers, tracking storage costs down to the item level - tracking the lifetime of any item from the vehicle it arrive on, through stock movements, to the vehicle it left on. It can handle simultaenous incoming/outgoing loads, with auto-location allocation for storage etc, everything most people could want I think).

      Better get back to it I guess ;-)

      --
      Code, Hardware, stuff like that.
    24. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Deimos_ · · Score: 1

      Might I shamelessly plug my own system? Its a PHP/MySQL system I custom wrote for a gallery in Roswell GA, but have released as OSS. It is generalized enough to work for any strict inventory tracking application (IE: it is not a categorical tracker, meaning it wouldn't work well for say, a grocery store)

      http://kfa.cx/products.php?product=WITS

      Requirements are simply PHP and MySQL, some reports use libgd to generate graphs. Being in PHP, it will run on any system (although I recommend a unix based system, osx, linux, bsd).

      Oh, the demo is currently not operational, my friends server I was running in on experienced hardware failure.

      Anyway, thats my shameless plug.

    25. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by AELinuxGuy · · Score: 1

      Check out Compiere. It is a *very* full featured ERP / CRM with a POS module.

    26. Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You couldn't be more wrong, and many of the comments in this thread are totally ignorant, not to mention useless. Not only does what you are looking for exist, but the company with it fucking invented point of sale software, probably before you were born, unless you are 30 or older. You better get googling and open your mind up if you want to help your father's company. Look for something like 'FreeBSD point of sale software'. And no, you don't want an X thin client. You want touchscreen X terminals.

  15. Okay, what am I missing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I guess I'm just too nerdy, for I have a hard time understanding the value of something like this. When I look at a piece of abstract/modern art like this I can note the skill and effort that was involved, but I don't follow any of the social or emotional sentements that others seem to freely associate. (I'm not alone in this, apparently, either.)

    Can someone clue me in? What's the secret? Is there some special brain implant or drug I didn't get at birth or something?

  16. An article about me?? by Reloaded · · Score: 0

    Oh...linux... How disappointing..

  17. Linux booths... by xeoron · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This reminds me when I went to Showcase Cinemas Lowell with some friends. After the movie we went to see we decided to use the photo-booth in the lobby. It was unplugged, so we decide to plug it back in. To our surprise we discovered the booth booting Red Hat Linux. We never got any pictures taken, because the machine would hang while it was loading the camera or the printer driver (can't remember which).

    1. Re:Linux booths... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      They're supposed to run Windows, but it must have got hit by that Red Hat virus. I hear there's a lot of that going around.

  18. The Unbearable Lightness of ASCII by 91angels · · Score: 1

    simple ascii graphics always seem to convey a sense of isolation when presented in situations like this, not necessarily aloneness but the feeling of a tenuous mediated glimpse into something far away and mysterious, or at least it does to me, maybe because of my associations with mainframe terminals and command lines. So I think this piece really "works", with combination of salvaged computer, ascii graphics, and abandoned places. another somewhat similar piece that I also enjoyed is ben rubin's Listening Post more polished but still with a eerieness that is hard to explain. might be of interest to you if you liked this one.

  19. Correction by britneys+9th+husband · · Score: 1

    $699.00
    $699.00
    $699.00

    Subtotal $2097.00
    Tax $178.25
    Total $2275.25

    --Your compliance with intellectual property law has saved you $997,724.75 in lawsuit settlement fees this year. Thank you for shopping at Linux Mart--

    --
    Hear recorded Slashdot headlines on your phone! New service beta testing. Just call (248) 434-5508
    1. Re:Correction by Dwonis · · Score: 1

      Note that if you actually do that, you'll be violating "intellectual property law" [sic].

  20. Incomplete by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 4, Funny
    ... abandoned, ruined or otherwise vacant

    In that case, they should have somehow involved the vi editor.

  21. Ruins in apache by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    or, another name for their server.

    1. Re:Ruins in apache by AndroidCat · · Score: 2, Funny

      It might make a good replacement for Edvard Munch's "The Scream" which was stolen recently.

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    2. Re:Ruins in apache by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't that be apache in ruins? Or rather wallet in ruins, as the error message is displayed not because of an apache problem, but only because the site used more web bandwidth than was payed for...

  22. I work with these!! by k4_pacific · · Score: 4, Informative

    From the article:
    "hardware so old it is incapable of displaying anything but text"

    Speaking as someone who writes software for these boat anchors, I would like to point out that they have VGA monitors and can display 640x480 graphics in black and white with the standard 9" monitor or, with the optional 9" color monitor, 16 colors. My company, which does custom retail software, has several customers running these units. Most still on DOS, but a few on Windows NT.

    --
    Unknown host pong.
    1. Re:I work with these!! by Gordonjcp · · Score: 2, Informative

      Speaking as someone who does tech support for this stuff, they can do a hell of a lot better than that. Some of the new ones are really powerful (more powerful than my aging Duron 700, by a long shot). One model even has an NVidia 3D chipset... WTF?

  23. I started writing an app for the original register by Wee · · Score: 1
    The sad thing about this article is that we still don't have a decent, non-specific, OSS point-of-sale package for *nix

    I was the one that had the extra time on my hands to take apart one of my mom's surplus registers. I oringally got it to see what was inside, so we could figure out what could run, whether we could put wireless on it, etc. (My mom's store in in PHX, I'm in San Diego, so I was sort of exploring on my own.)

    I suspected that it was a normal PC all along, but my mom didn't get manuals or anything when she got them from Service Mechandise. And since she had a few months until she was going to use them I figured I'd play around with one. So that's why I put Linux on it.

    I wanted to mainly get the led-on-a-stick working for her (it's an AZ law that registers have to have them I guess),and I wanted to see how the cash drawer works (via the printer). I also had to figure out the printer. It's a funky printer.

    So once I was done exploring, I thought that it was a natural extension that I start trying to write a POS app. I looked around a lot for stuff, and found some occasional links, but nothing that was terribly complete. Linux comes with al the dev tools you'd need, and it ran really well on those systems once I got the memory bumped up.

    My mom eventually went with another generic PC for her POS hardware. The original machines couldn't handle the CPU load of a wireless card. The vendor of her old nasty software also released a completely new version that did a lot of what she wanted, so my Linux-based POS app died on the vine.

    If anyone wants some perl code that can talk to the pole display or the open the cash drawer or whatever, let me know and I'll dig up all my old stuff.

    -B

    --

    Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.

  24. Re:Bad Link by reezle · · Score: 1

    Here's the best I got:

    google cache

    and this, too

  25. Been there, done that. by yroJJory · · Score: 1

    My printbitch (print server and MRTG grapher) is running on an old Pentium POS system. Nice and small footprint, don't need any slots. It's been running like a dream for 2 years!

    --
    Jory
  26. Runs out of bandwidth.. and then wonders why by shidarin'ou · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Most of these images have a gi-normous TIFF counterpart in high-resolution/ that is bereft of overlaid attribution. Gee, I think the lesson we kiddies learned today is not to put high resolution pictures on your website, and then submit it to slashdot.

    --
    www.GrenadeHop.com
  27. uhh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Our cash registers at work run linux and have for some time. Congrats on the innovation, though.

  28. Ironic typo? by rudy_wayne · · Score: 1


    "Ruins in ASCII"

    1. Re:Ironic typo? by Bambi+Dee · · Score: 1

      But... where's the typo? Or the irony?

    2. Re:Ironic typo? by Froug · · Score: 1

      That's not a typo. The display shows video of modern ruins using ascii text as the graphics. Hence the title of the work, "Ruins in ASCII".

      There is irony, though, in that their webserver is now in ruins.

  29. Windows P.O.S. by ImaLamer · · Score: 3, Funny
    Typically when I go to the store and see a Windows P.O.S. (point of sale) device I hear this "Freudian Slip"


    Excuse me sir, will that be crash or charge?


    --
    Get your Unix fortune now!
    1. Re:Windows P.O.S. by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 1
      Typically when I go to the store and see a Windows P.O.S. (point of sale) device...

      Yes, in this context, the acronym does indeed need to be spelled out...

    2. Re:Windows P.O.S. by ImaLamer · · Score: 1
      Of course, I wanted to spell it out that way people knew I was making a joke and not out-and-out Microsoft bashing.

      (we all know bashing is best in a *nix environment)

      --
      Get your Unix fortune now!
  30. Aaron, if you're reading this... by cyranoVR · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    It's been a while! I had wondered if had left town...

    IIRC, you still owe me $5 for that jellyfish platter when the three of us went to Evergreen Shanghai on Mott Street three years ago for a post-layoff lunch. (j/k)

    Glad to see you're still doing kewl stuff...send me an email sometime, we'll catch up.

  31. Re:Why so predudiced ? by natd · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    hahahaha - sorry, again I've no mod points to counter that terrible -1 flamebait.

    I'm not sure which bit is funnier - the general post of that the French helped in WWII :)

    --
    Only big ligs use sigs.
  32. No by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is, as the SUMMERY even states a "'video sculpture' showcasing 'an infinite loop of 180 distinct 7-second long video clips of various abandoned, ruined or otherwise vacant buildings and infrastructure'" Ruined and vacant buildings, as in, buildings in ruins, or just ruins for short.
    In other words, ruins in text.
    broken buildings in letters
    ect.
    Get the point?

  33. /.'ed by 1337+Twinkie · · Score: 0, Redundant

    So, is their server is running on a cash register?

  34. How 'southern' do we need to be? by cammoblammo · · Score: 2, Funny
    Southern geeks can see it unveiled tonight at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival.

    All of those in the southern hemisphere repeat after me...

    You Insensitive Clod!

    --

    Cogito, ergo sig.

  35. The sad thing... (back on topic) by plover · · Score: 1
    They had been running DOS until 2001 when they rolled out their new Java based POS application. They ran a test, running some stores on Red Hat, and some on Windows 2000. They eventually settled on Windows, and pulled Linux from the front lanes.

    A lot of their functionality is web-based. They use XML extensively to shovel data back and forth between systems like the front lanes, tool rental, returns, etc. [ My speculation is this might have something to do with why they chose Microsoft -- the introduction of .NET. But I don't know that for sure. ]

    Home Depot was responsible for the strong push to JavaPOS, a standard interface for POS devices (scanners, receipt printers, mag-stripe readers, etc.) The Windows world has had the OPOS (OLE-POS) device interface layer available since the mid-90's. Many POS peripheral manufacturers today provide OPOS service objects with their products, and now some will provide JavaPOS too.

    IBM provides both OPOS and JavaPOS interfaces for most all of their POS peripherals, so getting them to work under Linux should actually be quite easy for anyone building such an application.

    --
    John
  36. Technologicaly late ^^ by Mind+of+Illusion · · Score: 1

    I don't think you know, but the IBM 4694 has a P!!! 600 (or 700, I don't remind exactly) on his highest configuration available (at the time I've stopped to repair it for IBM). So this little Celeron ... ^^ In the other hand, the price is INDEED not the same ^^ it's a shame to know how expensive can be a complete cash register, with peripherals (TI4 thermal printer, 4694 standard keyboard, scanner, cashdrawer, and all the IBM wires to lonk all that) ... I think it's between 6000 and 10000$, at least. ^^

    1. Re:Technologicaly late ^^ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know where you're getting YOUR pricing, but I'm buying 4694 Model 244's with the 4610/TI4 printer, the cash drawer, and all the etc for $1750 FOB.

      I have no idea where the OP gets the idea these things are ASCII only... even a lowly Model 144 (AMD 5x86/100) supports 640x480x16 VGA graphics. I've booted Windows on one any number of times.

  37. These people may be able to help. by pwhysall · · Score: 1

    http://www.viewtouch.com/

    --
    Peter
  38. windows booth by memco · · Score: 1

    Well, a game actually, but at the ESPN restraunt in downtown disney they had one their arcade machines crashed on me and stole my money. Stinkin' windows NT.

    --
    Get me a meat pie floater!
  39. too much by icekillis · · Score: 0

    that's more than enough for Ascii. No... that's too much for ascii. I had a 12 mhz computer that did more ascii than that!

  40. Gazelle POS Linux already does this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We run these using Gazelle Linux. They run in 800x600x256 quite well. They are also running with Java, so I dont see what the issue is heer !

  41. “Cash Register Generating Poetry” 1999 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Years before was... http://www.o-o.lt/kesto/port/kasa.html