In article <bp0un2$k44$1@news.tdl.com>,
Justin Robbs <justin_robbsNO@SPAMhotmail.com> wrote:
>Hello all,

>We are embarking on a project to port from OpenServer 5.0.5/6,
>to Linux. I just wanted to get some opinions on which flavor of
>linux would be the best to port to. First, the background info
>and requirements.

>We don't need the latest and greatest technology, we just need
>a stable environment for our Point of Sale system. The benefits
>of going to linux would be to continue finding any needed
>drivers and integrating any additional hardware into our system.
>For example, most of our devices are serial devices, ie. upc
>scanner, cash drawer, handheld scanner etc. If for some reason
>they switched to usb, we would be out of luck.

A great many things are switching to USB and/or FireWire. Plan
ahead for the changes.

.....
>I would like to know which distro would be the easiest port ...
>
>the most stable ...
>
>the best driver support ...
>
>the best long term survival chances ...
>
>the fastest with the smallest footprint ...

Every one of those is subject to change on a weekly basis.

And I accidentally clipped the line about costs.

In an article today on the new RH licensing, Lawrence Livermore
Labs estimates their 4000-node cluster will cost them $800,000
PER YEAR using the currnet RH figures. And as a taxpayer a little
of that comes out of my pocket.

The idea that retail packages go away, you pay a yearly license,
and grant RedHat the right to audit your systems AFTER the license
period expires to check to see if you are running it is causing
consternation for some.

Then there is the penalty if you are using more copies than you
licensed. For a few over I recall it's the cost plus 5%. As
the quantity increases the penalites rise dramatically.

This seem to go back to the old IBM mainframe model in that
you don't own the software, you just rent it for periods of time.
That certainly is one way around the GPL.

Bill
--
Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com