Hi guys,

Doesanyone here knows about Cyber Cafes' management? I mean the needed software, configurations, and ofcourse the best easy to use and maintain distro for that purpose.

My point is, I am about to join a friend who is going to open a cyber cafe in Alex (as a companion to a computer office, whatever)

My problem is that I am thinking of making the cyber work for 24 hours and not to be around the whole day for rebooting and maintaining the stupid windows wicked environment!!!

You can see the problem now, ppl will just get shocked when they sit on the machine :D , I know that there are some programs like Kmess, Licq, and so many others to simulate the feel of the original program.

Personally, Kmess will just do the trick, it is even better that MSN messenger, but what about ICQ, PalTalk, Yahoo!, and AOL?!
I mean a true eye candy program with the same features of the original program, If you know wht I am looking for I will be so grateful.

Also, are there any software to be able to run my Admin PC as a monitoring device, a way to be able to control the other PCs in the network!

Another idea is to run half the PCs in Windows and the other half in Linux (experimental behaviour monitoring ;) ).
Would I be able to get access to the HDDs of those PCs? to perform print or file transfer from my Linux box?
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A sum up:
1. Applications (truly) equivalent and eye candy. (e.g.Kmess)
2. Getting the Networking up and running (even in a mex of windows and linux).
3. Software to know what other PCs are doing, basically site browsing.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Thx all for your contributions.
See ya soon (exams) ;)

okay, it's a simple tradeoff

windows machine,will have more initial cost, you will have to pay for the windows licenses, else you will be in trouble with the law, you can get away with you home PCs, but in a cybercafe, you don't stand a chance!

But, many people, would want
mirc, icq, msn, realplayer, windowsmedia player
maybe and I dont know what else, kazaa maybe ....
maybe then would like to save some files on disk and take it home or to another friend!
I dont think the linux would attrack them
they will simply go to another cafe!

So linux machines will cost you less
but will attrack less visiotrs

of course this might backfire, maybe more ppl then we know want to try linux, but just dont dare install it

maybe they will come to your linux-cafe just to try linux, not really for the net !!!!

anyway, try it, few linux machine, few windows machine

and report to us, which machines are in more demand !!!!!

well a cyber cafe now isn't only about internet browsing it's also about network games...


so this is how i see you do this:

if your friend have a computer put his and yous's to gether somewhere ( your home ) for a week maslan on cross linked network cards.


put linux on both ( 3 days ), mixed environment ( 3days) .

and check these things.

installing famous games and weather they work with in the network or not.

installing all appliactions you need and testing them.



and then decide.....

this site might help ( www.transgaming.com)


now to answer your questions.

1- applications with eyecandy:

icq : http://kicq.sourceforge.net/screenshots.shtml

aol: gaim is good ( i don't know of anything else sorry)

2- that's easy linuxneighbourhood is the key
http://www.bnro.de/~schmidjo/index.html

3- i don't know

:(

but i will check for you


god luck and if you neeed any help just say


one last thing i thing the best combination is


linux machines for those people who want to browse the net and chat only...

windows machines for those who want to play games......

there are many advantages to linux.
number 1 of course is cost.
u save on licenses and on hard disks. why buy hard disks for the linux clients? think dummy terminals.
2. there are a lot of games available for linux. but of course if u want games as in games and not quake or doom u r gonna have to buy the licenses.

so it adds up 1 & 2 means u can now afford to open up a lan party cyber cafe.

then an added incentive is every single user that walks in to ur cafe gets personalised service every single time he walks in.
his desktop, his settings for msn, icq, yahoo, aol, irc, etc. his files, his programs, personalisation like never seen before.

as it is i m studying how to set up a linux lan party cybercafe, if u want to know more ... :cool:

Originally posted by \\//\\//AHIB
Also, are there any software to be able to run my Admin PC as a monitoring device, a way to be able to control the other PCs in the network!


Sure, check freshmeat.net

Also there are special versions of pheonix/firebird webborwser that are customized to act in Kiosk mode.

The trick in linux that it is very customizable. So without rushing things out, you can try to create a highly customized Enviroment for your user. A very simple one, with extreme simplicity. for example blackbox + ROX filer and two icons on the desktop one for the 'all in one' IM and the other for the webbrowser. With a desktop background that carries instructions in arabic.

The main problem is MSN voice chat. This is your main problem. It is hard for the users to create a callto:// url and properly give it to the opposite end.Gaming is not essential for internet cafes. Remember, gamers tend to go to game networks only cafes and not a combo internet and game network.

However, you could charge users who will use the windows box more simply because the license did cost you more. In other words, to be competitive you will not raise the prices, you will decrease the fee for the linux boxen. Not all internet cafe goers need MSN voice chat.

At the same time linux boxes will cost less in terms of hardware a 800Mhz with 128MB ram is more than enough.

You will also install mozilla or firebird on the windows box. You don't need ActiveX viruses nor pop ups.

Remember, with some creativity you can make a better alternative.

good luck

BUT...

if u used linux , yes this won`t put u in the headache of installing windows and keeping antivirus running and all these things

instead it will coz u headache for the support

after thinking a while and taking a look at gAIM for example u won`t find it that easy for normal user to use it and load the plugins for example

note that the majority of those who go to cafes r very newbies and they only want things click and go

rabena ma3aak :)

i installed linux in just one machine in cyber cafe(TANTA) all people cll it that new windows can u imagine that and every time one say -eh da windows geded- my blood go burned and i start to explain that is linux not windows and invite people to use it aot of them be interst and want me to set up linux inhome for them but i said u must know its dis advatge realy when they know they said no windows is better what ever for people who sayding games on linux
1st- u can run all windows games on linux by use wineX its not free but u can find it in some where on line
2nd about networking monitor and browsing u didnot said what ur network mode server client or peer tp peer i think it easy in windows to find what u want bt in linx u can do it in sevral ways like log in by telnet in the user account and see what he is doing right now and for msn and that stuff i use program call dmsn its great and there is ver 4 linux and windows www.dmsn.nl CU bye

Wow dmsn looks very nice i am downloading it thanks
....

Hi again,


Hmmm, I can see that you seem to like the idea in one way or another, that's why I am posting my thoughts here to let you all know what I am about to do (hopefully) and help me decide.

The main thing here to say is that games is a secondary (hopefully can be disregarded) for the time being ;)

We will tart a small cafe in a computer retail office or sthg, it will be more like a club, will have cool discounts for club member too.
This will allow us to build customer commitment.

We are planning to get a 512K DSL to run on 5 or 6 boxes maximum! that mean a decent speed I hope, and will (IMHO) compensate for some of the hassle the user may get at the beginning.

There are so many cybers here that have 10-20 boxes on a 256K!!!!!!!!! and I think that no one will be satisfied with the speed even if it uses XP ;)

A for the user who will be dissatisfied with linux, or just needs an application under windows, I am considering dual boot machines :rolleyes:

But, about the LAW stuff, do the "mosanafat" ppl know about linux?!!!! are they able to broue my HDDs and tell me: Hey, that prog is unlicenced?!!!! :D
Wwill they een be aware of the Windows partition if I hide it somehow? ;)

I don't say that I will not pay for the licence in a box that uses Windows, but I will feel like such a fool to pay for an accasionally reboot!

The boxe will be used PIII around 1 Gig and small (about 10 Gigs) HDDs.

At last, Peer-to-Peer or Server-Client? :rolleyes:
I have no idea yet, any advice will be appreciated.

See you all.

are welcoem who liked dmsn but u must know that it will eat ur pc it use java :) and for the one who want to open cyber i advice u that u make it server clinet and use NAT use squid its will make ur users think that ur 512 is T1 and aslo in wondowz use nating under w2k ii respect w2k -not so much- at least more than x bee
and about monitor and know about users i will check that for u

Salamo 3alaikom,

I think it is an interesting idea to try to make a cybercafe that includes some machines having Linux as the main OS. Problems that you might face of course that users might not find it as they would like it to be. Solutions do exist for such problems. There are softwares for Web browsing, Chatting, Instant Messengers,...etc. Well I won't go much with those categories but I will mention that the instant messengers that have Voice support in Linux are scarse if ever they exist.
^3Fret^ mentioned the unawareness of users of Gaim plugins, this however could be easily fixed if you include them for an account for the users that could be using on all the Linux machines they will use.
You might want to do some work to include browser plugins.
Xchat could be customized so as it works like mIRC if you need really IRC chatting.
How about the General look in your desktop in Linux? Users might not be familiar with it. I have a solution for you, try xpde (www.xpde.com), this might make users more familiar with the GUI. You might make users work with Kmail or Evolution or Mozilla mail, be ware though that Arabic support is fully present only in Mozilla mail or Kmail but not in Evolution (as far as I know).
Linux will save you many cash you might pay for hardware and licenses. Windows will be familiar with users. It could work, why don't you try it? Let us know what will happen.

Salam.

i only included gAIM as an example

and yes , for every problem there is a solution but the cafe visitors won`t wait for the solution ;)


when i go to the cafe i see alot of ppl who open very strange pages that contains alot of games and apps and really strange things , i think they r restricted for the use of IE - may be that activeX thing -

btw did anyone of deal with beto3 el mosanafat dool abl keda??

el cyber elly 3andena fe 3eyal feha beynazelo a3`any metal we 7agat keda ...gabolhom beto3 el adab mesh beto3 el mosanafat :D

r they well trained ppl walla betengan ?
the owner of the net cafe i`m in only cares that there is windows on the machines with the exact number of licens he has , ya3ny he is saying usually they don`t sit an inverstigate the box and every software on it

and of course as we r in egypt momken ye2afelo dema3`hom we ye2olak meen leeenooks dah ?? tayeb ana hashama3lak el ma7al 3la ma neb2a nes2al meen leeeeenooks beta3ak dah !

lol

btw it is xpde.com not org

Originally posted by ^3aFrEt^
btw it is xpde.com not org

I corrected that above ya akh.

Salam.

sorry ya doc makontesh shoftaha :)

Salamo 3alaikom,

I have checked the XPde web site. They have a good FAQ, check it out. It is funny too, it is at the following url:

www.xpde.com/faq.php

Best of Luck and Salam.

I installed Xpde b4, looks like winXP to an extent that made me uninstall it in 5 minutes. It is winXP copied to the pixel. :( And still it is in very alpha stage, lots of menus don't work etc,..

check out those linux distro. here is an excrept from the FAQ

http://thinstation.sourceforge.net/

If you feel you are stuck with windows, you can get a single powerful server. Think P4 + SCSI HDD + 1GB RAM connected to 10 or more recycled pentium 1 computers. You will pay a single Microsoft License.

here is an excrept from FAQ:

What is Thinstation
Thinstation is a basic and small yet very powerful Open Source "thin client" operating system and some programs which make it possible to connect to servers via a network. Thinstation is mainly intended for office, company or department use. Being a private individual with just one pc you will have little use for Thinstation.

Thinstation runs on ordinary pc hardware (x86) and is based on linux, which itself is Open Source and free. You may either reuse older computers or save a lot of time on workstation administration. Or both! An old Pentium 100 MHz with 16 MB RAM or better will be a perfectly usefull workstation. And you don't need a hard disk - you can boot off the network and even have a fairly silent workstation.

But even with brand new hardware Thinstation is advantageous saving a lot of administration time (I personally did assamble a new small mini-itx pc from its boxes AND connected to Word on a Windows server within 19 minutes!). You can save money too, as you can just buy entry level or mini-itx computers and still have fast program execution (as your server permits). With a new both cpu and psu fanless and diskless mini-itx pc you may have a powerfull and completely silent workstation (and cool too, if you have to think about air condition expenses).

Thinstation is able to connect to:

* Citrix servers using the ICA protocol (on top of MS Windows Server, SUN Solaris and IBM AIX)
* Microsoft Windows Servers using the RDP protocol by rdesktop (Windows NT4TSE, W2k Server, W2k3 Server, even XP as single user only)
* Tarantella servers
* Unix servers running X
* VNC Servers
* Telnet and SSH (Secure SHell) servers

You just need a decent server for the users. An ordinary quality pc with a ~2 GHz/"2000+" cpu and 1-1.5 GB ram will easily support 20-30 users on a Windows server with MSIE, e-mail and Word/Excel or any similar typical applications. However, it will not work well with Auto-cad/3D Studio Max or other heavy duty programs.

Thinstation is based on linux, but users may actually never see linux at all if you decide to connect directly to a Microsoft Windows server or a Unix server! The user will feel he/she connects directly to the server. But if you want to, you can have a linux interface - a blackbox window manager to be exact.

Hi again,

I find the thin clint cool, but what about the server? does windows servers wor as expected or omehow stable for a change? :D

I just don't get it, you mean that I have a linux client able to give me the windows enironment from the server? what is the point! I get a dependable client on a so/so server?

I am checking on it ;)

Hey I forgot sthg,

ICQ has done it!!! check go.icq.com

it is very cool, you can use it on any environment "I think"
I even uninstalled my Windows ICQ and use it instead "no disk pace or low booting ;) "

I guess you can have a linux server too. I just don't know. They mentioned it in the FAQ, but they they are emphasizing more on the MS win server side. (think of the potential commercial benefits)

You should check their mailing list archives, or subscribe to their mailing list. Thinclients could mean substantial costs saving both in hardware and software.

As a general advice try to invest in decent 17" inch monitors.

Speaking of 17 inchers, what's a good brand and for how much?

Originally posted by MadFarmAnimalz
Speaking of 17 inchers, what's a good brand and for how much?

Rule:

15" -> 510 LE (max: 1024x768)
17" -> 710 LE (max: ??)
17" Flat -> 910 LE

Unless the resolution are higher than the above ,prices increase. Example, Hansol 15" (1152x??) -> 610 LE

As of brand, I am looking through an 3 years old 17" Acer (77e). Its working perfectly. FYI, Acer changed its name to Benq lately.

check www.ltsp.org ( linux terminal service project) and check also ...

http://www.k12ltsp.org/

these sites continue all the documentation needed to setup and start a thin clients network......

You really need to know the kind of ppl that are going to be visiting the cyber cafe.

First, you really need to impress them with Linux. I mean impress them. After that you need to maintain some hard-copy docs as user-manuals for how to reach some stuff,certain progs...etc.

Finally, maintenance is a matte of patience.

Maher

Hi all,

I am thinking of a fat client not a thin one, I know that thinclients perform better in some ways (depends on how HUGE the server is) . But it cannot be a dual boot machine running Windows, because (I think) I will need a server license and it depends also on the number of terminals?!!!!!!!!! what a **** of cash!

Besides, servers use VERY expensive equipment SCSI and Gigs of RAM and ....... :S

would the clients be faster than the PIII 1 Gig. 128 RAM with a small 6-10 gig HDD?!

what options do I have? I need a central machine, I think to maintain or use a cybercafe management program!

To impress users, what about the ELX distro? they say that it is as easy as windows!!!