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I'm considering taking on a contract for developing a custom POS for a small video store, since the one they're currently using is very hackable (and they're got an unscrupulous shithead employee who loves to do it) and the ones available are all terribly expensive, overfeatured, and overcomplicated. I've never written this kind of soft before and was wondering if anyone with experience in a video store could offer some advice as to common features, things that suck about existing POSes, or any other nifty tidnits of information. Thanks in advance.
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POS? Private Operating System?
In the beginning, there is darkness â the emptiness of a matrix waiting for the light. Then a single photon flares into existence. Then another. Soon, thousands more. Optronic pathways connect, subroutines emerge from the chaos, and a holographic consciousness is born." -The Doctor
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Point of Sale
the mind is a beautiful thing, use it and make the world a more beautiful place.
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What is a Point of Sale? Something like
this?
earn.
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yeah. at least thats what they call it where i work. even though we call it the Piece of Shit, cause it loves to kick itself offline in the middle of a sale.
the mind is a beautiful thing, use it and make the world a more beautiful place.
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I work at GameStop, which is almost the same... we had a DOS-based system when I started working, and now we have a "Windows 2000" based system. Personally, I like the DOS-based one better, but there were a few basic functions that were handy.
One was to obviously start a sale, which used the arrow keys to choose method of payment, and a number pad to enter the amount, etc. Obviously, that is pretty much standard.
Our system also had a feature where you could look up anything that *could* be in inventory-- even if it wasn't-- and had a little blurb you could read about the product. One thing that it DIDN'T have was an inventory list-- what was actually IN inventory. But the ability to look up whatever product you want and be able to see what it's about is quite handy.
Those are the two basic features that made life easier with that system. Also, if you ever tried to break out of the system it started beeping and saying "WARNING: There is *NO* reason to exit the POS." so that would probably be good. Overall, as a programmer, you should cater to the desires of the people that you're programming for... And, of course, making the system secure and stable should be a priority.
ovaProgramming.
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BALLSBREAKER was born.
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This system will be Linux-based (Arch Linux) without X (will be a text-based POS for maximum onscreen clarity) and coded in FB 0.16 stable.
I should have been slightly clearer though
... the place is a video rental store, they don't actually sell movies, they just rent 'em out.
Lots of interesting changes are taking place in the tiny little store. The previous owners were just as slimy as the scumbag who works there most of the time...they did a lot of copied rentals (they rented out copied DVDs) and sold copied porno under the counter, off the books. The new owner lacks the contacts that this slimy employee has, so he's not going to fire him until he gets a nice set of connections for posters and new movies. Fortunately, my wife and I managed to put together a rather impressive list of inexpensive distributers very quickly, and with my custom POS and a fresh set of legal DVDs, the store will do just fine without the scumbag. Hopefully he'll be fired very soon.
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LoL, sounds like a plan. In the same capacity as I stated above, you could have inventory still-- "is this movie rented out or not" ... so that would still be pretty valuable. I would just talk to the owner and learn about what they want it to be like. Obviously, you could code it lickety-split!
ovaProgramming.
One night I had a dream where I was breaking balls. The next morning,
BALLSBREAKER was born.
Quote: Excellent. Now you can have things without paying for them.
BALLSBREAKER 2
~-_-Status Report-_-~
Engine: 94%
Graphics: 95%
Sound: 100%
A Severe Error has crippled BB2 for the time being... I have to figure it out, but until then you won't see much of it
.
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It would just need to be text mode.
In the beginning, there is darkness â the emptiness of a matrix waiting for the light. Then a single photon flares into existence. Then another. Soon, thousands more. Optronic pathways connect, subroutines emerge from the chaos, and a holographic consciousness is born." -The Doctor
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I intend it to be textmode, that's why I'm not even installing X onto the target system. Also, the system is standalone with no internet connection.
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