levinb

Hey HN,

I have a brewery, taproom, and event space in my hometown that I've gotten open recently, and for now I am cash-only (I even bought an ATM that I surrounded with cabinetry, so it looks nice.)

We're headed to a public Grand Opening soon, and in working towards that while minimizing data surface area, I'd like to use a POS credit card reader that is as respectful of my customers data as possible.

I've whipped up a simple POS system on an RPi, and I'd love a CC reader that has a simple API or SDK so I can generate a bill total, and send that (only) to the reader to avoid manually entering data. It'd be nice to get a push back with a transaction outcome.

I don't really want to roll my own PCI compliant solution of course, avoiding device key injection and all that. I don't want to be a POS system vendor, just a small business that lets my customers make purchases conveniently without unneeded vendors monitoring their business with me.

I've only found once reader vendor (ID tech) that has a well documented SDK, and this domain is hard to search through SEO'd noise to find solutions. Are there any good options I should know of? Thanks!

I'm nearing completion of a historical renovation to get a nano-brewery off the ground, where I would like to host hacker-friendly events.

With both that in mind and personal preferences that reflect much of the caution found here on HN, I'd like to run as little customer data as possible through or to the major vendors' and marketing ecosystems.

Anyone here have suggestions for a maintainable, self-hostable stack to cover typical brick-and-mortar SMB needs? I am a fairly proficient python programmer who's got a number of professional ML and personal RPi projects under my belt. I am not afraid to code, edit YAMLS, or write scripts to modify config files or a database - but have also learned the value of not reinventing the wheel.

Here's some areas of interest:

-Web presence (wordpress? pythonic alternative?) -Retail sales (just beer and schwag, no food) -Online sales (Stripe alternatives if I DIY, self-hosted shopify?) -Event calendaring & booking (we have a separate space on top of the taproom I'd like to host events in, like tech privacy talks!) -Smart Home - IoT devices for locks, cameras, environmental monitoring. (Home Assistant, NodeRed, something else?)

It turns out if you want anything other than cash and old school CCTV, you immediately get into a vendor matrix I don't really want to opt myself and all my customers into. Most of us can't usually avoid credit cards, but beyond that, it would be nice to provide a modest refuge for my customers.

Genuine thanks for any thoughts, especially from other HNers with businesses in the physical world - levinb

I was able to get five 8gb models from my favorite supplier. First time I haven't had to snipe one in 18 months.

I was so, so, close to going in on OrangePis and alt-SBCs. No more e-trash.

Let's get back to work!