OpenBSD Journal

Developer blog - mbalmer@: OpenBSD at the Point Of Sale

Contributed by johan on from the pitchers dept.

Marc Balmer (mbalmer@) has updated his blog with a very nice piece about how OpenBSD can be applied in real world applications other than your typical firewall or router.

The blog describes how OpenBSD was setup on Point Of Sales machines at the Basel Zoo.

Please read on for a short excerpt from the blog:

The POS terminals are booted into the installer and a normal OpenBSD install is performed, which takes an average ten minutes per system. Once installed, a root ssh key is generated and put onto the package distribution server, which takes another three minutes. To finally install the X/POS application, all that is needed is a pkg_add xpos which will install all needed dependencies and the X/POS application itself. After adding a few lines to /etc/rc.local, the machine is ready for operation. After a reboot, the graphical user interface is automatically started and the user is greeted with the POS applications login screen, which already uses the touchscreen as an interface.

This is a very interesting example of an OpenBSD based custom solution, have you got a similarly uncommon setup, would you like to tell the rest of us about it? Don't hesitate, click the "Add Story" link now and submit your story today.

(Comments are closed)

Comments

  1. By Brynet (Brynet) on

    That's pretty cool Marc, those POS systems.. is there a dmesg available? :-)

    Also, has anyone else written about such similar POS/kiosk-type OpenBSD systems? preferably with pictures? :)

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward (2001:8a8:1001:0:223:32ff:fec2:7d18) on

      > That's pretty cool Marc, those POS systems.. is there a dmesg available? :-)
      >
      > Also, has anyone else written about such similar POS/kiosk-type OpenBSD systems? preferably with pictures? :)

      Maybe I should write up about the public Internet terminals we deployed in public libraries. They run in all libraries and all people are really happy with them. Guess what OS they run ;)

      (and again the pkg_* tools just rock: Install OpenBSD, pkg_add kiosk, reboot)

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward (66.93.151.53) on

        > Maybe I should write up about the public Internet terminals we deployed in public libraries. They run in all libraries and all people are really happy with them. Guess what OS they run ;)
        >
        > (and again the pkg_* tools just rock: Install OpenBSD, pkg_add kiosk, reboot)

        Please do so!

  2. By minusf (91.127.122.236) on

    openmotif might be stable and all but is ugly as hell.

    i hope their code is better then their website which
    ends up in Not Found for most of the links from the
    index page...

    choosing a toolkit based (mostly) on license seems to
    me a politically biased approach, instead of technical
    merits, esp. when the other license, LGPL, is perfectly
    acceptable for commercial use. but each to his own.

    an interesting project nonetheless. nice.

    Comments

    1. By Marc Balmer (2001:8a8:1001:0:223:32ff:fec2:7d18) on

      > openmotif might be stable and all but is ugly as hell.
      >
      > i hope their code is better then their website which
      > ends up in Not Found for most of the links from the
      > index page...
      >
      > choosing a toolkit based (mostly) on license seems to
      > me a politically biased approach, instead of technical
      > merits, esp. when the other license, LGPL, is perfectly
      > acceptable for commercial use. but each to his own.
      >
      > an interesting project nonetheless. nice.

      Motif applications might indeed look ugly when defaults are
      being used. But you can modify the look of every single
      widget and make a Motif application look really refreshing ;)

      Comments

      1. By minusf (91.127.122.236) on

        > Motif applications might indeed look ugly when defaults are
        > being used. But you can modify the look of every single
        > widget and make a Motif application look really refreshing ;)

        well, the article did not mention anything about a custom
        look... so now you really need to post some screenshots.

        and it's not about bells and whistles. it's about
        aesthetics... sometimes pure functionality is simply
        not enough. otherwise we'd be reading books typeset
        in arial or courier new...

        Comments

        1. By Marc Balmer (2001:4060:c0de:a000:223:32ff:fec2:7d18) on

          > > Motif applications might indeed look ugly when defaults are
          > > being used. But you can modify the look of every single
          > > widget and make a Motif application look really refreshing ;)
          >
          > well, the article did not mention anything about a custom
          > look... so now you really need to post some screenshots.

          [...]

          Yes, mea culpa. Of course the user interface was customized, to provide large, colored "keys" so that you can actually hit them on the touchscreen. The application runs full screen and without window manager interaction. Lacking the IBM touchscreen in the early development phase, we had to test on a zaurus, the worlds smallest POS system... But it has a working touchscreen.

          When I find time I will add some screenshots showing the application without custom layout (really ugly ;) and how it looks with the customizations (less ugly..).

          Comments

          1. By Anonymous Coward (81.83.46.237) on

            > When I find time I will add some screenshots showing the application without custom layout (really ugly ;) and how it looks with the customizations (less ugly..).

            That would be very nice.

    2. By Anonymous Coward (208.124.37.81) on

      OMG it hasn't every single X bell and whistle on a POS system. What are we going to do now? Man a button with like 1 on it needs some decoration!!

      moron.

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward (81.83.46.237) on

        > OMG it hasn't every single X bell and whistle on a POS system. What are we going to do now? Man a button with like 1 on it needs some decoration!!

        I actually know some customers who complained about their POS system not looking "sexy".

        Comments

        1. By Anonymous Coward (208.124.37.81) on

          > I actually know some customers who complained about their POS system not looking "sexy".

          Right I totally think that makes sense. I mean who gives a crap about functionality that a monkey needs to type in repeatedly? It has to look "sexy".

          Comments

          1. By Anonymous Coward (24.22.108.209) on

            > > I actually know some customers who complained about their POS system not looking "sexy".
            >
            > Right I totally think that makes sense. I mean who gives a crap about functionality that a monkey needs to type in repeatedly? It has to look "sexy".
            >

            at several bars in my neck of the woods, customers can see the
            POS the servers use ... it's part of the ambiance ... at least,
            I certainly notice which ones look "professional" and which ones
            don't.

  3. By Anonymous Coward (85.19.213.88) on

    Is it just me, or is the POS acronym a bit ... unfortunate? "a new POS application", "There is a large number of POS terminals available", "POS hardware", "SurePOS 300", "integrated in our POS software" ...

    Hmm, maybe I just need to stop using wtf(6).

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward (2001:8a8:1001:0:223:32ff:fec2:7d18) on

      > Is it just me, or is the POS acronym a bit ... unfortunate? "a new POS application", "There is a large number of POS terminals available", "POS hardware", "SurePOS 300", "integrated in our POS software" ...
      >
      > Hmm, maybe I just need to stop using wtf(6).
      >

      It stands for Point of Sale.

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward (85.19.213.88) on

        > > Is it just me, or is the POS acronym a bit ... unfortunate? "a new POS application", "There is a large number of POS terminals available", "POS hardware", "SurePOS 300", "integrated in our POS software" ...
        > >
        > > Hmm, maybe I just need to stop using wtf(6).
        > >
        >
        > It stands for Point of Sale.
        >

        You're no fun. Answering "WTF is WTF?" would be better. Oh well.

      2. By Motley Fool (MotleyFool) on

        >
        > It stands for Point of Sale.
        >
        When I first read POS I was hoping Marc was working on Packet Over Sonet, but alas not. Oh well, Point of Sale is a pretty good story too.

        Comments

        1. By Anonymous Coward (66.230.230.230) on

          > >
          > > It stands for Point of Sale.
          > >
          > When I first read POS I was hoping Marc was working on Packet Over Sonet, but alas not. Oh well, Point of Sale is a pretty good story too.
          >

          I assumed he was Patching Our Systems... but I had to do it myself. :-))

  4. By Anonymous Coward (150.101.245.181) on

    s/other then/other than/

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward (150.101.245.181) on

      I find it unfortunate that this misuse of the word 'then' has become so prevalent. Possibly due to sloppy pronunciation by those with english as a primary language.

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward (98.127.110.254) on

        > I find it unfortunate that this misuse of the word 'then' has become so prevalent. Possibly due to sloppy pronunciation by those with english as a primary language.

        Your sloppy pronunciation is my accent.

        Comments

        1. By Anonymous Coward (219.90.179.39) on

          > Your sloppy pronunciation is my accent.

          Then your accent should be spoken and not written.

          Comments

          1. By Anonymous Coward (68.1.69.60) on

            > > Your sloppy pronunciation is my accent.
            >
            > Then your accent should be spoken and not written.

            Les accents écrits sont plus difficile que les parlée; ils demandent plusieurs clefs.

          2. By Anonymous Coward (71.35.138.253) on

            > Then your accent should be spoken and not written.

            Maybe then we should stop writing with the accents of the 15th century and earlier, upon which English spelling is based. Or perhaps you do not observe the Great Vowel Shift?

            Comments

            1. By Anonymous Coward (219.90.212.1) on

              then!=than. They are different words, with completely different meanings. Nothing to do with the vowel shift of the middle ages.

      2. By Anonymous Coward (216.167.201.130) on

        > I find it unfortunate that this misuse of the word 'then' has become so prevalent. Possibly due to sloppy pronunciation by those with english as a primary language.

        I find a similar situation with the term 'loose'. I've seen heavy use by well-regarded developers of 'loose' and 'loosing' for things that have been lost, not untightened.

        sigh.

  5. By mike (195.137.231.42) on

    any chance of some pictures of things like the interface being posted somewhere?

  6. By Anonymous Coward (80.91.178.195) on

    Thanks. Interesting story, but how OpenMotif could be better choice if it has proprietary license instead of OpenSource license in GTK?

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward (38.103.144.42) on

      > Thanks. Interesting story, but how OpenMotif could be better choice if it has proprietary license instead of OpenSource license in GTK?

      Why hello thar Mr.Stallman.

      It's not proprietary, it's just a custom licence..

      http://www.opengroup.org/openmotif/license/

      Do you see any nasty clauses? I sure don't.. verbose though. :-)

      Comments

      1. By tedu (udet) on

        > > Thanks. Interesting story, but how OpenMotif could be better choice if it has proprietary license instead of OpenSource license in GTK?
        >
        > Why hello thar Mr.Stallman.
        >
        > It's not proprietary, it's just a custom licence..
        >
        > http://www.opengroup.org/openmotif/license/
        >
        > Do you see any nasty clauses? I sure don't.. verbose though. :-)

        did you read this part?

        "The rights granted under this license are limited solely to distribution and sublicensing of the Contribution(s) on, with, or for operating systems which are themselves Open Source programs. Contact The Open Group for a license allowing distribution and sublicensing of the Original Program on, with, or for operating systems which are not Open Source programs."

        Comments

        1. By Marc Balmer (2001:8a8:1001:0:223:32ff:fec2:7d18) on

          > did you read this part?
          >
          > "The rights granted under this license are limited solely to distribution and sublicensing of the Contribution(s) on, with, or for operating systems which are themselves Open Source programs. Contact The Open Group for a license allowing distribution and sublicensing of the Original Program on, with, or for operating systems which are not Open Source programs."
          >

          OpenBSD is open source. So I see no practical problem, although I would, of course, prefer if the Closed^WOpenGroup would not put such restrictions on the code base.

        2. By Kurt Miller (2001:4830:120b:1:212:f0ff:feb5:f46c) on

          > > > Thanks. Interesting story, but how OpenMotif could be better choice if it has proprietary license instead of OpenSource license in GTK?
          > >
          > > Why hello thar Mr.Stallman.
          > >
          > > It's not proprietary, it's just a custom licence..
          > >
          > > http://www.opengroup.org/openmotif/license/
          > >
          > > Do you see any nasty clauses? I sure don't.. verbose though. :-)
          >
          > did you read this part?
          >
          > "The rights granted under this license are limited solely to distribution and sublicensing of the Contribution(s) on, with, or for operating systems which are themselves Open Source programs. Contact The Open Group for a license allowing distribution and sublicensing of the Original Program on, with, or for operating systems which are not Open Source programs."
          >

          That seems mild compared to GPLv3. :-)

  7. By peter gilman (71.232.198.109) on http://p3t3.net


    very cool stuff! i'll have to stop by the zoo when i visit basel for fasnacht 2009. 8-)

  8. By Marc Balmer (2001:8a8:1001:0:223:32ff:fec2:7d18) on

    It went into production on January 1st, 2009 and there was not a single problem. It just worked.

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