On 03/04/2015 12:30 PM, Dan Ritter wrote:
On Wed, Mar 04, 2015 at 10:51:21AM -0800, Victor Charles wrote:I'm starting my own spares business soon and will be using a Linux compatible Point of Sale system on about 5-6 desktop computers to begin with. I am impressed with SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Sale (SLEPOS) but I'm sure Debian 7 or (soon) Debian 8 can perform the same functions, if not better. Anyone have experience with Debian in business or have any recommendations?The best distribution for you is the one that you have the most support for.
+1
If someone is selling you a POS system, then they should be supplying support.
+1
If you're building a POS system, you should evaluate the relative communities and support organizations.
-1 I'd recommend:1. Use *only* the hardware and the GNU/Linux distribution your POS vendor recommends and supports. This includes make, model, hardware version, firmware version, etc..
2. Encrypt all drives. 3. Photography everything for insurance purposes.4. Better yet, buy all your hardware from your POS vendor with the O/S and all the software pre-installed and pre-configured.
5. Get a static IP Internet connection and set up a hardware firewall that your POS vendor knows and likes (buy it from them if you can). Put your POS machines behind it, and nothing else.
a. Configure the firewall to give your POS vendor's static IP address external SSH access to the firewall and internal access to the POS machines (all via SSH keys only; block password authentication).
b. Configure the firewall to block all outgoing traffic, except what your POS vendor needs. Yes, employees will cry if they can't surf from the POS machines; would you rather be cracked and deal with notifying all your customers of the data breach?
4. Don't update/ upgrade the machines unless your POS vendor tells you to do so, and only with the *exact* patches they have verified. Better yet, pay them to do it.
5. Backup, image, and archive religiously. Even if you pay your POS vendor to do this (good idea), implement a local solution anyway (coordinate with your POS vendor). Encrypt everything and keep copies off-site forever.
HTH, David