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From OpenLPOS
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Features at a glance
- Small, Medium, Large-scale scalability
- Multiple distribution and development methods to suit your infrastructure
- POS applications for multiple tiers of business reflect OpenLPOS's targeted approach to platform design.
- Cost controlled
- Machine costs are your call
- Repurpose existing hardware
- Run OpenLPOS on off-lease POS equipment
- Software development and customization costs are your call
- Apache's OFBiz development and support community is strong
- Full source code is available for all components of OpenLPOS
- Machine costs are your call
About OpenLPOS
OpenLPOS (Open Linux Point of Sale) is a volunteer effort to offer free an community-supported alternatives to some of the commercial offerings for Point of Sale on Linux and other, proprietary UNIX (tm) environments.
The components of OLPOS are distributed in as platform-agnostic a method as possible to facilitate deployment across as many UNIX-like systems as possible; Debian/Ubuntu, Novell/OpenSUSE, Redhat/CentOS, MacOS X/Darwin/FreeBSD, Solaris, etc.
Currently, releases based on Debian 5.0 and OpenSUSE 11 via SUSE Studio are available, as well as packages for JavaPOS and POSTest for MacOS X 10.5 (Leopard).
The OpenLPOS team are targeting several areas with this initiative:
- Retail environments where existing solutions may not satisfy requirements
- Traditional industry solutions for SMB and Enterprise POS and the cost and difficulties in obtaining them
- Commercial Linux products for Point of Sale deployments
- Offering a managed Linux foundation for the deployment of products offered by traditional Enterprise Software Vendors, such as SAP and Oracle
- Providing an integrated J2EE Environment with OS Image Management and Data Backup, along with industry and vendor requirements such as Payment Card Industry Compliance Standards, HIPAA, and Enterprise Security
- Providing a flexible development environment for J2EE Applications and Application Servers
- Delivering OS and Middleware as a unit for deployment of J2EE applications
Presentations (old):
(OpenOffice "Impress" presentation - Right click, Save As... : http://openlpos.org/OLPOS_Presentation_200805/OpenLPOS_Presentation_200805.odp)
(HTML version of OpenOffice "Impress" presentation: http://openlpos.org/OLPOS_Presentation_200805/OpenLPOS_Presentation_200805.html)
FAQ
Q: Is OpenLPOS Free? As in 'A Free Lunch'?
A: OpenLPOS is free to download and use in accordance with the licensing requirements of the packages included in particular releases. We'll gladly help you implement or customize it for a fee! :)
Q: What License is OpenLPOS released under?
A: The variety of products delivered with OLPOS and their individual license requirements mean there is no simple answer to that question - sorry! OLPOS is based on Debian Linux and the Apache Foundation's OFBIZ, meaning that the primary components are released under the GPL2 and Apache Licenses, respectively.
A (growing) list of software license agreements is here: Licensing
Q: How can I download Pre-release versions?
A: Development snapshots are available at http://openlpos.org/release/
Q: Can I run my business with this software?
A: Yes! Coffee Shops, Cafes, Online retail, Grocery/Co-Op/Convenience Markets are all covered with the software bundled with OpenLPOS.
Q: Wouldn't I normally have to pay Quicken!, Microsoft, IBM or Oracle hundreds, thousands or millions of dollars for software to do this?
A: Yes, and you would responsible for implementing it, or hiring a specialist at high hourly rates.
Q: Can I Network boot and manage POS Terminals with this software?
A: Yes! OLPOS was designed for centralized workstation and terminal management. Please see the section on the Operating System and Design Overview for a detailed description of the functionality.
Q: Will OLPOS run as a "Live" DVD?
A: Yes, the software environment is designed for platform and peripheral diagnostics. Any data changes will not be recorded in the running environment. A Persistant User Environment may be created.
Q: Can I install OLPOS to a hard disk?
A: Yes! IF you download and install the SUSE Version - linked above. Ideally, you would boot a server from the OLPOS Live DVD, install your clients via the netboot environment contained therein, install the OLPOS environment of your choosing to the permanent storage of the server, configure, and create your initial environent backups/snapshots, prior to populating the Retail Software Environment.
Q: What POS-oriented packages does OLPOS contain?
A: Check the Packages page for more information.
Q: I'm experiencing some strange issue when I boot the Debian LiveCD in qemu. What gives?
A: There seems to be a bug in extremely recent versions of qemu for Debian and Ubuntu. Please try the SUSE LiveDVD, or another Virtual Environment (VirtualBox works well) or burn to physical media.
