Misinformation
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| caitlyn Feb 12, 2013 11:01 AM EDT |
First off, Apple didn't develop CUPS. Second "sudo apt-get" doesn't work in all Linux distros. |
| smallboxadmin Feb 12, 2013 12:13 PM EDT |
@caitlyn Don't confuse the issue with facts. Also, CUPS was and acronym for Common Unix Printing System not "Server". |
| Fettoosh Feb 12, 2013 12:26 PM EDT |
I think the author is repeating what is cited below on CUPSQuoting:CUPS is the standards-based, open source printing system developed by Apple Inc. for OS® X and other UNIX®-like operating systems. |
| notbob Feb 12, 2013 12:36 PM EDT |
A common misconception, undoubtedly due to this claim on cups.org: "CUPS is the standards-based, open source printing system developed by Apple Inc. for OS® X" Wikipedia is a little more revealing. In the article, Rebecca "Ruji" Chapnik clearly states, "For instance, if you are running Ubuntu...." Sudo apt-get certainly doesn't work in Slackware, but doesn't need to, as CUPS is already installed and configured, for the most part. So much so, my laser printer operated perfectly without any input/action from me. I installed Slackware 13.37, my printer worked! Donchya jes love those 1995 OSs! ;) |
| tuxchick Feb 12, 2013 2:15 PM EDT |
Another reason to dislike Apple. CUPS was an independent project for many years, run by Michael Sweet, before Apple bought it. They haven't done much to improve it, not for Linux anyway. |
| caitlyn Feb 12, 2013 3:16 PM EDT |
Quoting:In the article, Rebecca "Ruji" Chapnik clearly states, "For instance, if you are running Ubuntu...."Yes, and the article is still titled "How To Setup A Printer On Linux" and fails to cover the subject material for more than half of the top 10 distros on the DistroWatch list. CUPS is already installed on most distros. Configured for individual printers? Slackware doesn't do that. I guess that's what you mean by "mostly". Quoting:Donchya jes love those 1995 OSs! ;)Nope. Many modern distros do just fine with printing and have decent admin tools across the board. Almost all other distros automatically handle dependency resolution. Most of the big ones have much larger repos. Sorry, no sale. Quoting:Another reason to dislike Apple. CUPS was an independent project for many years, run by Michael Sweet, before Apple bought it. They haven't done much to improve it, not for Linux anyway.That's sadly true. The drivers keep getting better but most of those aren't developed by Apple. |
| notbob Feb 12, 2013 5:27 PM EDT |
> Configured for individual printers? Slackware doesn't do that. Mine did. I did a full clean install of Slackware 13.37 and my Brother laser printer worked from first boot. |
| gus3 Feb 12, 2013 6:47 PM EDT |
My Brother laser didn't, but that's because the PPD it needs isn't part of the base CUPS build. OTOH, putting the custom PPD in place was a cakewalk. |
| notbob Feb 12, 2013 7:20 PM EDT |
My Brother is a rather old laser printer and the same driver was used for many early linux friendly Brother models. Perhaps my printer's driver was already present. When I opened port 631 to config CUPS, it basically said, "Get lost, dummy! Yer printer works, already.", or something along those lines. Imagine my embarrassment. ;) |
| Koriel Feb 12, 2013 7:39 PM EDT |
My Canon MX420 doesnt work out of the box with Slackware but then it doesn't work with any other distro out of the box either. But to Canon's credit they do supply Linux drivers for CUPS and a scanner driver which are easy to install and the configuration is automatic if the printer is switched on for auto detection. If you are looking for their linux drivers though you wont find them on their USA site but the Jap & Euro sites have them which is strange. |
| jdixon Feb 12, 2013 7:54 PM EDT |
CUPS doesn't seem to like our Samsung CLP-325W, even if I copy the ppd file over. But Samsung makes an installer for it which worked out of the box on Slackware 13.37. It doesn't seem to work on the latest version of Salix though. :( |
| notbob Feb 13, 2013 10:18 AM EDT |
That's one of the reasons I stick with one distro. Don't see the point in having to re-learn a buncha new solutions to the same problem. Take my flat-bed scanner, for example. One of my last peripherals to become Linux compatible, and still yet to be auto or pre configured. As I recall, I hadda track down and break out a binary file from a RPM pkg and insert/config it manually. Still do. I practically hafta keep my own howto notes and a copy of that file taped to my chest through subsequent upgrades of Slack, lest I lose it and render my scanner a boat anchor. Sure, my scanner works great, but it's a chore to get it to do so and I'd hate to hafta go through the same nightmarish process I originally did to learn how. OTOH, I've had jes as much trouble with Windows and a new Windows compatible appliance, where the install wizards all pop open like wise ol' gurus, then sadly lament "unable to locate file", as if I'm hiding the driver file from them on the media that came with the appliance and I gotta manually track it down and install it, myself. BTDT too many times to recount. Oh well, it all keeps the brain stimulated. ;) |
| caitlyn Feb 13, 2013 10:23 AM EDT |
One of the reasons I like Red Hat and clones is that almost anything a business is likely to use is going to be supported either by the vendor or the distro. It always was what was used at work until I changed jobs last fall and then I was in SUSE world. That's actually worked out pretty well. To their credit, Ubuntu seems to be doing a much better job with hardware support lately. OK, it took them three years to get printing with brands/models that needed a Zenigraphics driver right when other distros had it all along, but mostly their hardware support is good nowadays. |
| Steven_Rosenber Feb 14, 2013 7:39 PM EDT |
If only scanners were as easy to set up as printers ... |
| caitlyn Feb 15, 2013 11:04 AM EDT |
I got lucky there. My old HP flatbed was supported out of the box by SANE. When it finally went belly up I got my current Epson all-in-one as a gift. Once again, it just worked. I know people have issues setting up scanners. I've never had the, ahem... pleasure of that experience. |
| kikinovak Feb 15, 2013 11:21 AM EDT |
For all those who don't know how to setup a printer with CUPS, here's a little HOWTO I wrote on the subject. http://www.microlinux.fr/slackware/Linux-HOWTOs/CUPS-HOWTO.t... It may be Slackware-specific, but then, a) Slackware includes CUPS as it's intended by the developer b) it avoids doing horrible things to the software so it becomes unusable (no names) c) it's dead-simple when you use the nice web interface shipping with CUPS. The last section deals with CUPS vs. Samba, so you can even make your Windows clients print from your Linux server. Enjoy, Niki |
| jdixon Feb 15, 2013 11:59 AM EDT |
> I've never had the, ahem... pleasure of that experience. We've had extremely good luck with our scanners also, but we've never gotten an all-in-one device. Ours have always been standalone. Both of the models we got were by Canon, and they both worked out of the box with SANE. |
| Steven_Rosenber Feb 15, 2013 4:30 PM EDT |
FYI, I had more trouble with scanners in the "new" (as of a year ago) release of OS X than I ever did in Linux ... |
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