LynuxWorks is now shipping its first product targeting the retail/POS (point-of-sales) market. BlueCat Linux POS is based on a 2.6 kernel, supports USB and variety of POS hardware, and comes with long-term support. It includes drivers for POS peripherals such as barcode scanners, and is available with development tools.

Linux is the fastest growing OS in retail POS systems, according to a 2003 study by IHL Consulting Group. However, Microsoft has shown increasing interest in what it calls the “point-of-service” market, announcing in October a version of Windows XP Embedded aimed at the retail and hospitality industries.

BlueCat POS architecture
According to LynuxWorks, BlueCat Linux POS boasts the smallest footprint of any available POS OS, enabling it to run on older, memory-constrained terminals such as IBM 4694 platforms. The OS requires 8MB of memory, or 16MB with Java, LynuxWorks says.

Additionally, LynuxWorks says the BlueCat POS can scale up to support larger, feature-rich, browser-capable equipment. Claimed features include real-time product tracking, payment, and profiling, offering a modern alternative to DOS that costs less than proprietary OSes, according to LynuxWorks.

CEO Dr. Inder Singh said, “There is significant opportunity as POS vendors and retailers turn to open source software to help reduce costs and complexity of POS systems.”

Bob Morris, VP of sales and marketing, said, “Our BlueCat Linux POS gives vendors the flexibility of a standards-based, hardened Linux offering. Customers [will] receive the level of support they need [to] implement a Linux distribution [that] we believe will quickly become the industry standard for the POS retail market.”

Availability

The BlueCat Linux POS is available now, direct from LynuxWorks, either a la carte or with a side of development tools.

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