[luau] NEWS: Sherwin-Williams to use Linux Cash Registers

[Warren Togami]

On Fri, 2002-05-24 at 12:27, MonMotha wrote:
> I looked through the description of your project, and I have a few 
> questions, then I can get started building a floppy for you:
> 
> 1) Do you want X11 or just a text console?  If X11, what video hardware 
> will be on these (both monitor and video card)?

I am recommending text console only for the initial version.  Text
console would be easier to read and introduce less complications than
X11.  With X11 we would need to deal with stuff like video drivers,
monitor settings, fonts, and users accidentally minimizing the window
then blaming the computer thinking it is "broken".  (They currently do
that on the Win98 cash registers.)

> 
> 2) What kernel do you prefer?  2.0, 2.2, or 2.4.  Older kernels tend to 
> be smaller, newer kernels support more nifty features.  I'm opposed to 
> 2.0 kernels, but will do either 2.2 or 2.4, whichever you prefer.

Either 2.2 or 2.4 would probably suffice.

> 3) What kind of basic utils will you want?  I use busybox, so you can 
> check out their site as to what is available, but I can also compile 
> some stuff on my own (though space is limited of course) provided the 
> app can be compiled against uClibc fairly easily.
>

We were thinking about using read-only IDE flash disks for these Linux
cash registers.  Far more reliable than floppies, and probably more
reliable than hard drives because there are no moving parts.  (Some of
the cash register locations had problems with overheatig.)  We can buy
sizes anywhere between 4MB-several GB so there is a lot of flexibility
in what we can do.  We need to figure out what size of smallest flash
disks we would need to buy without detracting from effectiveness.  The
flash disks should also leave some room to grow should we think of new
useful features to add to the system later. 
 
> 4) I know you will be needing SSH, and I assume OpenSSH most recent 
> unless you want otherwise.  The SSH needs to compile against uClibc.

SSH would be nice, but we would need to think of a way to secure the
reverse (server to client) print connections too.