Board index » kylix » Burlington Coat Factory and Linux

2003-09-15 12:50:17 PM
kylix2
I went to our local Burlington Coat Factory the other day, (had not been to
this particular store in about 6 months) and low and behold all the POS
(point of sale systems) where running Redhat Linux. You could see the
RedHat on the modified (KDE or Gnome, couldn't tell) "Start" button a mile
away.
I knew they where running their servers with Linux, but I didn't know about
the POS stuff.
Anyway, i just thought it was pretty cool, and really shows how a company
can run everything with Linux.
I bet they save a ton of cash on M$ licenses.
--
Tony Caduto
Inexpensive Corporate Messaging
AM Software Design
www.amsoftwaredesign.com
 

Tony Caduto wrote:
running Linux. The client chose Linux to keep the licensing costs down for
its customers (they are on-selling the system).
It is planned to eventually end up on 10's of thousands of machines (at
least) in Australia alone. If it were to be developed for Windows, the
minimum required would have been W2K Professional. You do the math as to the
licensing costs of that many machines <g>
--
Dave Nottage (TeamB)
 

"Tony Caduto" < XXXX@XXXXX.COM >wrote in message
purpose terminals.
Lots of POS systems still use DOS very effectively as well. Can we
extrapolate from these in a similar manner?
 

{smallsort}

"Dave Nottage (TeamB)" < XXXX@XXXXX.COM >wrote in message
 

Your point being?
"JQP" < XXXX@XXXXX.COM >wrote in message news: XXXX@XXXXX.COM ...

"James Presley" < XXXX@XXXXX.COM >wrote in message
Linux related updates and the associated compatibility issues? Thus far, I
mainly see two different approaches to the problem.
A) Release the source code so the end-user/distro vendor/whoever can tweak
and re-compile as needed; i.e. the Open Source approach. Since it was
mentioned that the app was going to be "sold", I kinda assumed (perhaps
incorrectly) that this category didn't apply.
B) Specify or provide a "certified" distro and forbid the user from
changing/adding/modifying without forfeiting all support. This works OK for
"canned" solutions where hardware and software are bundled (like a POS) and
for apps which normally run on a dedicated server (like Oracle). It doesn't
appear to work so well for desktop apps (like Kylix).
 

With Burlington it seems reasonable the B) category would apply, as
Burlington might well control their own workstations. In fact it would seem
Burlington could release an "continuous stream" of powerful user
applications all tailored to the company-approved Redhat operating system.
They could update the OS as needed, as well as the user apps when needed,
just like we sometimes are forced to do with Windows when we change
versions.
My insurance company is stepping into Linux even now. The last MS license
program really ticked the IS manager off. Windows 2000, Office 2000 are the
last MS products he wants to buy.
"JQP" < XXXX@XXXXX.COM >wrote in message news: XXXX@XXXXX.COM ...

"James Presley" < XXXX@XXXXX.COM >wrote in message
development and build rather than buy their apps.
For a single purpose system like a POS, this may be a reasonable approach.
Should their needs be more diverse, it is probably less so. For many
(probably most) businesses, software is just a tool. They have neither the
interest nor the aptitude for software development.