Linux in Brazil

[Tim Writer]

lsorense-1wCw9BSqJbv44Nm34jS7GywD8/FfD2ys at public.gmane.org (Lennart Sorensen) writes:

> On Wed, Jun 16, 2004 at 07:16:12PM -0400, Tim Writer wrote:
> > My experience with JavaPOS, Linux, and a variety of essential peripherals
> > from well known companies suggests otherwise.  One such company ships a Java
> > SDK with a Windows DLL for accessing the serial ports, no shared library for
> > Linux, and no documentation on what components are required under Linux or
> > where to get them.  Overall, I'm left with the impression that, outside of
> > IBM, there aren't a whole lot of developers using JavaPOS on Linux.
> 
> Just because a company doesn't supply easy to use software for Linux,
> does not mean that making the hardware work is very hard.  I have made
> receipt printers work perfectly using small perl scripts before, simply
> by finding the PDF documenting the serial port commands that printer
> used.  The kiosk hardware was very much meant to run windows and
> certainly the manufacturer did nothing to make linux easier.  I even had
> to write a touch screen input driver for X (which turned out to be
> fairly easy too amazingly enough).  Making serial devices work really
> isn't that hard most of the time.

For "transparent" devices, yes.  But some devices, such as pin pads, have
builtin encryption and, consequently, you have no choice but to use the
manufacturer's SDK.  In these cases, making the hardware work without
adequate support from the manufacturer can be very hard indeed.  I'm simply
suggesting that lack of _JavaPOS_ Linux support for essential components of
POS systems is an indication that Linux and Java might not be widely used in
POS systems today.

-- 
tim writer <tim-s/rLXaiAEBtBDgjK7y7TUQ at public.gmane.org>                                  starnix inc.
905.771.0017 ext. 225                           thornhill, ontario, canada
http://www.starnix.com              professional linux services & products
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