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Linux for internet cafe?

Canonfan

Hi all,

I'm having a bad time running a small Internet cafe, friend of mine recommended Linux. Can someone tell me the advantage and disadvantage of it, please?

The internet cafe is focused on web surfing/chatting and printing only.

Many thanks in advance.

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BopNiblets

Kinetic^ wrote: »

Ubuntu is probably more newb friendly then most. Just hope it works flawlessly on your PCs.

I'd say Mint is even more newb friendly for two main out-of-the-box reasons:
1. Taskbar and Mint menu (similar to Windows menu) are on the bottom, window list included!
2. And I know it's been said many times said before but MP3's and videos and stuff work without installing any codecs!

PogMoThoin

BopNiblets wrote: »

I'd say Mint is even more newb friendly for two main out-of-the-box reasons:
1. Taskbar and Mint menu (similar to Windows menu) are on the bottom, window list included!
2. And I know it's been said many times said before but MP3's and videos and stuff work without installing any codecs!

I'd agree with that, all media streaming codecs are already installed. It just works out of the box unlike Ubuntu which needs extra work. It also has better support for troublesome devices

niallb

How did this go for you last night?

pickarooney

I would recommend keeping at least one Windows PC permanantly as you are pretty much guaranteed to have people coming in to print important documents and OpenOffice, in my experience, never handles .DOCX or even many .DOC files exactly as MS Office does. This is a showstopper on a CV for example.

Otherwise, my recommendation is for Xubuntu. Tutorials such as this are fairly straightforward if you want to make the machines as Windows-esque as possible without all the hassle of viruses. Win-win really, if you can forgive the pun.

Canonfan

Hi all,
I'm sorry to tell you that I've failed. The installed Linux is Ubuntu.
This morning my customers were having problems with printing(both quality and layout), the Cyber cafe software was very messy, I was running around like a headless chicken, as I said I have 0 experience.

In the end, I had to closed the door after two hours. I've been sitting in the shop all day crying.

Sorry guys I couldn't make it. I don't know what's next for me.

Dean820

Fact is most people use Windows and not Linux, your target market wouldn't know how to use your computers comfortably.

ElBarco

Canonfan wrote: »

Hi all,
... as I said I have 0 experience.

In the end, I had to closed the door after two hours. I've been sitting in the shop all day crying.

Sorry guys I couldn't make it. I don't know what's next for me.

That's a pretty crappy day alright - commiserations.

Can you get someone in to put a fresh copy of windows on the machines? Linux is great and all but if you (or your staff) don't know a thing about it it's only going to cause headaches when you start getting customers asking questions. The same is true of windows but the average customer is going to be more familiar with it.

Someone recommended deep freeze above - it sounds like the ideal scenario for yourself. Customers can (and will!) break things and you can roll back.

Best of luck.

Canonfan

Sorry guys I made a big mess. I have to say I do like Ubuntu but for now I can only keep 1 PC running on Linux and spending tonight changing the rest back to Win XP.

Thank you all for your posts.

axer

Canonfan wrote: »

Sorry guys I made a big mess. I have to say I do like Ubuntu but for now I can only keep 1 PC running on Linux and spending tonight changing the rest back to Win XP.

Thank you all for your posts.

How many computers are you running here?

Keep it simple. Forget about Linux for now or set it up on one machin for you to use and get used to.

Sleipnir linked to a free MS tool called SteadyState which I have never came across but which looks excellent. This seems to do exactly what you want. You can set it so that every day or few days the computer reboots and discards any changes.

Next invest in antivirus software like NOD32 for each machine.

With the above the only things that can go wrong are hardware problems. Set this up right from the begining and you will have no more problems.

I am surprised that none of the people you called out suggested these things.

pickarooney

Canonfan wrote: »

Sorry guys I made a big mess. I have to say I do like Ubuntu but for now I can only keep 1 PC running on Linux and spending tonight changing the rest back to Win XP.

Thank you all for your posts.

With respect, you seem to be running the business on a whim and a prayer. You're going to need at lease one competent technician whom you can rely on to give you sound, practical advice and help you implement it. Posting this thread in the Unix forum was bound to throw up a large volume of *nix-based ideas, most practically sound but not necessarily what your cybercafé needs, particularly if you haven't the expertise to troubleshoot it or immediate recourse to someone who does. (I know it's stable-door advice and I was one suggesting a particular linux solution)

I think you need to urgently look at two solutions now - getting someone to put a clean, familiar OS in place ASAP and putting your own marketing nous to good use undoing the bad publicity of today's events. I don't mean to forego linux completely - the fact you're open to the idea is positive enough - but you would be better off familiarising yourself with the OS first and gradually introducing it to your business.

It's hugely frustrating that something as straightforward as printing a document can cause so much headaches, but it's vital that you get acquinted with the inevitable barriers you'll face as much as the advantages you'll gain from changing operating systems.

You had a bd day; put it down to experience and plan your next step carefully. Best of luck.

Canonfan

Morning everybody, it's me again. I know some of you are already sick of me and my post.

After another night's work, all but 1 computer are running on Windows again. Now I need to learn how to keep the system healthy as long as possible. I'll play with the poor Ubuntu PC during my free time.

Thanks again to all of you. Have a nice day.

mach1982

Don't give up. You can run a cyber cafe on linux check the link below

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=12714

Kinetic^

mach1982 wrote: »

Don't give up. You can run a cyber cafe on linux check the link below

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=12714

The OP doesn't have a clue about linux so there's no real point in him setting the cafe up that way.

RGDATA!

for keeping a small number of computers under control, as it sounds like you are trying to do, i highly recommend deep freeze by faronics

reinstall your OS and updates, all the programs you want people to be able to use, all the latest plugins etc, then with deep freeze you freeze the computer and every time you restart your computer will revert to this virgin state.

you never have to deal with viruses/malware beyond restarting the computer, you can reassure your customers that their details/history are not stored on the computer once they request a restart.

The_Thing

Just read this thread out of curiosity as I wanted to see how many people would suggest Linux Mint for the O.P's internet cafe, but what really intrigues me now is this Deep Freeze application that several posters have suggested.

Would somebody explain how it works? Is it similar to imaging a drive with a tool like Acronis True Image? Thanks.