[HN Gopher] Fedora contemplates the driverless printing future
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Fedora contemplates the driverless printing future
Author : Tomte
Score : 42 points
Date : 2021-06-07 06:39 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (lwn.net)
(TXT) w3m dump (lwn.net)
| linuxftw wrote:
| I used to be able to just find my printer in Linux with the
| dialog, and it magically worked. Same printer on a newer release
| of Fedora, took several days of tinkering to finally be able to
| print again wirelessly.
|
| This IPP stuff is broken IMO. I found an lpadmin command
| somewhere online and was able to mangle it to get my printer to
| work.
|
| IPP is probably easier for some people if it works. If it doesn't
| work, it's going to be impossible for most people to figure out
| for a few years.
| cors-fls wrote:
| I discovered IPP by accident/chance because getting the HP driver
| or PDD file was not easy. And it has been working perfectly for
| years !
|
| It was the only choice on the CUPS interface for which driver was
| optional/not needed. I did not use avahi-discoverh though, I
| typed the printer IP.
|
| The fact that I choose a semi-pro printer, to get laser and
| reliability, probably helped. It also allows me to scan directly
| to a network drive so I never had to install a scanner driver.
| trasz wrote:
| Why not adopt a solution that's already there and works well,
| namely AirPrint?
| etaioinshrdlu wrote:
| Desktop printers will have the same demise as cable tv and
| landline phones: quality will continue to go down and prices up
| as providers squeeze any remaining profits out of the business.
| pengaru wrote:
| > Desktop printers will have the same demise as cable tv and
| landline phones: quality will continue to go down and prices up
| as providers squeeze any remaining profits out of the business.
|
| Landline phone-call quality has always been and continues to be
| infinitely better than anything people are using today to
| replace it.
|
| I can't believe that in 2021 people aren't actively revolting
| over how useless smartphones are at actually doing phone
| duties.
| mcpherrinm wrote:
| I guess the voice quality is fine for me. Maybe that's
| because of whatever "HD Voice" that my carrier claims to
| have. The reality is, I rarely make phone calls anymore
| either way. Almost everything is a video call now, whether on
| Zoom or Google Meet or Facetime or Whatsapp.
|
| Even if I get a "land line", it's just an expensive VOIP line
| from my ISP.
| axus wrote:
| I feel like these are prompts to advertise Brother network
| printers. The quality makes me consider buying their sewing
| machine.
| philjohn wrote:
| Which is why when I was in the market for a new printer I went
| for a model meant for a medium sized office - a pretty hefty
| Xerox Versalink.
|
| The toner cartridges last 8-10k pages and if you purchase at
| least one a year (easy enough to do) they extend your next day
| onsite parts and labour support contract.
|
| I got an amazing deal on it as well - but not the typical $80
| "make a loss on the printer and make it back on ink" that
| consumer models adhere to.
| freeone3000 wrote:
| And what, exactly, is replacing them? What else can convert a
| digital document to paper form?
| quicklime wrote:
| Other than digital forms?
|
| The printer at work, which is free and convenient if you work
| in an office.
|
| Or the one at the local copy shop, which is 10c a page. I
| probably spend ~$1/year printing out forms, there aren't that
| many left...
| freedomben wrote:
| It absolutely enrages me that in 2021 printers are still the
| absolute horror show that they are. Things were better in 1999.
|
| The article covers the driver story so I won't go into that, but
| in addition to the horrible Linux support it amazes me that a
| cheap affordable printer and ink is still not available. Ink is
| now not only outrageously priced but commonly has DRM in it.
| adontz wrote:
| I do not think it's that bad now.
|
| A few days ago I have bought a new non original toner cartridge
| for my HP printer for about $7. Is it expensive tho? I expect
| it to print at least 2000 pages, so $0.0035 per page.
|
| For ink jet:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_ink_system
| brnt wrote:
| I've never actually had a problem printing in Linux. It had
| always been plug and play for me. My trick is to make sure the
| printer actually can be plugged in (USB or Ethernet) and that
| it isn't the most recent model.
|
| Also, get a laserprinter. Inkjets are going to be a problem
| regardless of drivers.
| freedomben wrote:
| Do you print photos? My wife loves to print photos and has
| been told by friends that a laser printer won't do photos.
| HarryHirsch wrote:
| For that use case I'd actually recommend Walmart's photo
| printing service, either in-store or on-line. Outsourcing
| makes sense in this case - the alternative would be a
| 7-colour inkjet printer, and the really pricey thing is
| replacement of the printhead when it invariably gets
| clogged up.
| [deleted]
| Retric wrote:
| Color laser printers are IMO even better at photos than
| inkjet, but many are black and white.
| adontz wrote:
| I am not sure how will it function for USB printers or
| multifunction devices. I mean, it's a really nice initiative, but
| removing printer drives does not look like a realistic plan.
| DesiLurker wrote:
| Driverless cars to driverless printing .. Oh my how far have we
| fallen.
| zamalek wrote:
| If this actually works, it would definitely be a pro of Linux on
| the Desktop vs. practically anything else.
| codeulike wrote:
| _In the IPP Everywhere future, printers simply work_
|
| Ah, my sweet naive child. There is no such thing as 'printers
| simply working', it's just a story that we tell to keep away the
| nightmares
| agumonkey wrote:
| point to them, they made me believe for a second
| TruthWillHurt wrote:
| The only thing worse than printers - scanners.
| HarryHirsch wrote:
| Yes, and that's why printer-scanner combos are called
| multimalfunction devices. Extra demerit points are accorded for
| scanning to email or CIFS share.
| smackeyacky wrote:
| I have a couple of HP printers here, and the HP OfficeJet Pro
| 8740 is a multifunction device that has been completely
| trouble free. Scans to a CIFS share, emails stuff, wakes up
| from sleep on a print request properly. Amazing.
|
| The older HP CP1025NW laser printer in my study is a complete
| POS though, for some bizarre reason the driver software
| completely fails to find it on a regular basis and it seems
| to forget how to print semi regularly as well.
| whateveracct wrote:
| Linux printing works..but also doesn't. And then you have to fix
| it.
|
| Now I just put files on a Samba share on my Linux machine and
| AirPrint from my iPhone :)
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