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HospitalityMachine.co.uk - the one stop hospitality trade Operating System!
The home of HospitailtyMachine and HospitalityMachineKiosk. |
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What is HospitalityMachine?
HospitalityMachine is a self-booting 'Live CD' containing a complete and modern desktop operating system and suite of applications. It is targeted towards owners and managers of bars, pubs, clubs, cafes, etc.
What Does it Do?
What doesn't it do? One of the goals was to try to squeeze every conceivable application a venue manager could possibly want onto one CD, with a robust and simple to use operating system to run them from.
On the CD there is the PCLinuxOS operating system remastered by myself. Why PCLinuxOS? It is widely acknowledged to be one of the easiest to use versions of Linux available, it is modelled on the Microsoft Windows user interface, and this should help users get to grips with it.
The Linux community has known for some time that for many applications, Linux is a stable, reliable, robust product. Unfortunately, there are still many people, including key decision-makers, that are not aware of the existence of Linux and its capabilities. Hopefully the hospitality trade are aware of it, and using HospitalityMachine, or any other suitable Linux distribution, can make full use of it.
Software Included
The list is too long to show here, (look HERE for a more complete list if you're curious), but suffice to say all the usual extras (that you would normally pay for in a Microsoft version) are included: CD Burners, Media Player with lots of codecs, DVD Player, Download Manager, FTP Manager, DTP, Office Applications, Website Design Program, Photograph Manager, and more!
Security & Administration
HospitalityMachine has a Control Centre which is easy to use and fully equipped. It has firewall facilities, hardware configuration, user account manager, etc. It has a robust Backup application to ensure all your data is safe. You can also schedule backups to take place whenever you want.
Networking
Should you have more in-depth networking knowledge there are tools included to help with Remote Administration. I have stripped some of the more esoteric tools out to make room to fit everything onto one CD.
Behind the Scenes / In the Office
The Samba application and Control Centre enable a user to setup a file server. So if you need a file server in your office and want to serve files form it to other terminals around your office HospitalityMachine can be configured to both be a server and a client. You can also secure the file server so only authorised users can access it. You can go on to configure backups on your fileserver for added security. If you have an extensive behind the scenes office responsible for your venue - HospitalityMachine can be used in all sorts of roles - server, terminal, backups, etc.
Compatibility
Using applications such as Samba and Lisa, HospitalityMachine can browse Microsoft Windows networks, view and down/up load MS files, and manipulate them using OpenOffice.org. The Media Player applications have a lot of MS compatible codecs to help play MS media files (it can also play RealTime, QuickTime and other media files too!).
What are the advantages of this?
Cost
As an owner of a freehouse myself (www.kingston-arms.co.uk) I have seen running costs spiral - there always seems to be some new law/rule/red tape being imposed on the trade, and costs and taxes forever increase. So anything that can help with running back office duties, or offer extra functionality, or indeed offer another service for customers, for free, can only be a good thing!
Convenience
You don't have to install it on your hard disk to try it, it runs completely from your CD drive and RAM. In addition to the live CD, you can also install HospitalityMachine to your hard drive with an easy-to-use LiveCD-Installer. Additional applications can be added or removed from your hard drive using a friendly user interface (an apt-get front end via Synaptic for the techies out there). To the non techie, this means if you want an application that isn't included - you can pick one from the large repository of hundreds of applications for Linux, and download them - for free! (Hopefully you'll want something non hospitality related - or I haven't met all my goals!).
And There's More - Introducing HospitalityMachineKiosk!
There is also a stripped down version of HospitalityMachine, called HospitalityMachineKiosk, (or 'Mini'). It is based on KioskCD and offers a fully loaded Browser, with it's homepage set to 'google', and not much else. Why? HospitalityMachineKiosk enables a venue manager to offer his/her customers internet access on a computer - without having to worry about maintenance, viruses, software problems, etc. Because the Operating System runs entirely from the CD, no changes are written to the hard disk, any changes the user makes to the system are forgotten about as soon as the machine is turned off - and when it is turned on again the original desktop is restored to it's original state! You can dig out or buy a second hand pc (or several if you want to set up a network, or small internet cafe or lounge) ensure the hard disk is taken out, set it to boot from the CD, connect it to your router/network, put in HospitalityMachineKiosk, and you're sorted. One tamper proof, worry free internet enabled pc!
'Okay, I'm Interested, What Do I Do Next?'
Go HERE to look at the the screenshots and the YouTube video, go HERE to download either HospitalityMachine and/or HospitalityMachineKiosk , burn it onto a CD, ensure your PC will boot off the CD drive, see what it offers without installing anything to your hard disk. Should you want to, an easy to use installation application is included.
As we say in the Linux community... 'Have fun!'
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Recent Updates:
12/01/2010 - Quotes added to 'Hall of Fame' page
16/04/2009 - Changed hosting of all HM & HMK software to Dropbox.com
08/11/2008 - Instructions for running HMK from USB key (for increased performance) added to bottom of 'HospitalityMachineKiosk' page.
08/11/2008 - HospitalityMachineKiosk screenshots are now available. Go to 'Screenshots' page to view them.
07/11/2008 - HospitalityMachineKiosk Updated! The new 2.1 version has an improved GUI, and includes simple admin tools, a few select local applications, and a variety of cloud/web 2.0 based applications - all targeted towards internet cafes, clubs, bars, etc. Go to 'Downloads' page to download it.
30/08/2008 - Quotes added to 'Hall of Fame' page
18/06/2008 - Outsourced the hosting for our Linux distributions. The surprising popularity of HM & HMK entailed so many downloads from our local file server we were forced to find a third party to host the downloads (www.adrive.com). The site itself is still hosted by us.
03/06/2008 - Slight 'tidy up' & small updates throughout the site
29/05/2008 - Article & quotes added to 'Hall of Fame' page
31/12/2007 - 'Hall of Fame' page added
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