2 ms·

I also have been making an open source point of sale but haven't touched the hardware end of it yet. I think I am going to take a different approach and integra

I also have been making an open source point of sale but haven't touched the hardware end of it yet. I think I am going to take a different approach and integrate my POS with existing payment processing and printing options. Not sure I want to tackle making custom hardware when a stock desktop comes with everything you need. At the bike shop I own we are using my software to track inventory and sales but not to process anything. We use a square device for that and the stock printer to print receipts. This is the cheapest route one could possibly go.

moron4hire 13y ago
I don't really consider myself as tackling this from the hardware direction. It's more that I'm trying to piece together a set of existing hardware and software that fits the need as best as possible. I'm trying to connect the dots of what already exists. Some of that is motivated out of laziness. I don't really want to write a POS system from scratch. Not that I can't, I just have too many other projects on my plate to deal with such a thing. So doing a "literature survey" of the existing FOSS POS systems seems like a good place to start. I fully expect to have to customize it to fit individual need. But that's the beauty of FOSS, you get to do that if you want. But a good part of it is also motivated from knowing that there is a segment of people who are going to try to build their POS from scratch. They might have a touch screen already and need everything else to go with it. They might have bought a receipt printer on Amazon and didn't really think it much further than that. In the same way that Linux runs on just about anything you can think of, I want to eventually get to where you can fill in the blanks on what you have and get a list of what you need and be able to purchase it easily and have yourself a POS for great justice. I have a friend who owns a bar and microbrewery just outside of Philadelphia that built his own POS system from completely COTS parts and FOSS software. It took him 3 years to get it to the point that it worked, but it eventually worked. I'm trying to make that 3 years turn-key for everyone else. I'm still looking into payments. Payments are kind of the big, scary elephant in the room for this field. I'm betting it's actually not that big of a deal. It's probably just the classic problem of getting through the slog. I've worked on enough SOX-compliant systems to know that such things aren't really that complex, you just have to know the rules ahead of time. Anyway, I'd be really interested to see what you're doing. Please, share what you've got so far.
- websitescenes 13y ago
  Your perspective on this issue is an asset to me. I also have been tinkering with different approaches for about three years. I started out hacking on Virtuemart for Joomla, then tried Spree for Rails but I have found that they are too biased towards the online store checkout flow. My most recent attempt has been built with Active Admin and Rails. I built it in a couple of months so we could have something for the bicycle shop I opened recently. I admit it's quick and dirty but it tracks work orders, sales, inventory and customers. I have not addressed payments beyond a select field for credit card, cash, check, etc. but I have considered integrating with an online processor. Currently we use a Square like reader from our bank and the stock printer for the store desktop. We don't have a touch screen but we do use tablets on the floor for work orders and sales occasionally. Since the printer is on the network, we can print receipts from any of the devices the sale is being made from. I have published everything to my Github account (https://github.com/websitescenes/point_of_sale https://github.com/websitescenes/point_of_sale). Much of it is hard coded for my specific shop but I plan on making a general version that would be more configurable. I am interested in following your progress because you seem to be attacking some of the angles that I am ignoring. Thanks for your response.
  - moron4hire 13y ago
    Cool beans. I'll definitely include it in my review. I'm getting about a day's worth of work on the project done a week, and I'm looking into an intern to take up some slack on my other projects to be able to put more time into this one.
    - websitescenes 13y ago
      Any interest in applying to Ycombinator together? I have applied numerous times by myself and haven't gotten much of a response. I can't find anyone locally to run with on a startup. Not sure if we are compatible based on our limited communication but wanted to throw the idea out there anyway. I am a mid level engineer that has been programming for about two years. I am learning fast and always improving my skill set. You seem to be more advanced than myself but perhaps there is still a way you could utilize me.

moron4hire 13y ago

I don't really consider myself as tackling this from the hardware direction. It's more that I'm trying to piece together a set of existing hardware and software that fits the need as best as possible. I'm trying to connect the dots of what already exists. Some of that is motivated out of laziness. I don't really want to write a POS system from scratch. Not that I can't, I just have too many other projects on my plate to deal with such a thing. So doing a "literature survey" of the existing FOSS POS systems seems like a good place to start. I fully expect to have to customize it to fit individual need. But that's the beauty of FOSS, you get to do that if you want. But a good part of it is also motivated from knowing that there is a segment of people who are going to try to build their POS from scratch. They might have a touch screen already and need everything else to go with it. They might have bought a receipt printer on Amazon and didn't really think it much further than that. In the same way that Linux runs on just about anything you can think of, I want to eventually get to where you can fill in the blanks on what you have and get a list of what you need and be able to purchase it easily and have yourself a POS for great justice. I have a friend who owns a bar and microbrewery just outside of Philadelphia that built his own POS system from completely COTS parts and FOSS software. It took him 3 years to get it to the point that it worked, but it eventually worked. I'm trying to make that 3 years turn-key for everyone else. I'm still looking into payments. Payments are kind of the big, scary elephant in the room for this field. I'm betting it's actually not that big of a deal. It's probably just the classic problem of getting through the slog. I've worked on enough SOX-compliant systems to know that such things aren't really that complex, you just have to know the rules ahead of time. Anyway, I'd be really interested to see what you're doing. Please, share what you've got so far.

websitescenes 13y ago
Your perspective on this issue is an asset to me. I also have been tinkering with different approaches for about three years. I started out hacking on Virtuemart for Joomla, then tried Spree for Rails but I have found that they are too biased towards the online store checkout flow. My most recent attempt has been built with Active Admin and Rails. I built it in a couple of months so we could have something for the bicycle shop I opened recently. I admit it's quick and dirty but it tracks work orders, sales, inventory and customers. I have not addressed payments beyond a select field for credit card, cash, check, etc. but I have considered integrating with an online processor. Currently we use a Square like reader from our bank and the stock printer for the store desktop. We don't have a touch screen but we do use tablets on the floor for work orders and sales occasionally. Since the printer is on the network, we can print receipts from any of the devices the sale is being made from. I have published everything to my Github account (https://github.com/websitescenes/point_of_sale https://github.com/websitescenes/point_of_sale). Much of it is hard coded for my specific shop but I plan on making a general version that would be more configurable. I am interested in following your progress because you seem to be attacking some of the angles that I am ignoring. Thanks for your response.
- moron4hire 13y ago
  Cool beans. I'll definitely include it in my review. I'm getting about a day's worth of work on the project done a week, and I'm looking into an intern to take up some slack on my other projects to be able to put more time into this one.
  - websitescenes 13y ago
    Any interest in applying to Ycombinator together? I have applied numerous times by myself and haven't gotten much of a response. I can't find anyone locally to run with on a startup. Not sure if we are compatible based on our limited communication but wanted to throw the idea out there anyway. I am a mid level engineer that has been programming for about two years. I am learning fast and always improving my skill set. You seem to be more advanced than myself but perhaps there is still a way you could utilize me.