PuTTY alt-keys (was Re: 16-User Network)

[Brian K. White]

On 8/30/2011 9:23 PM, Fairlight wrote:

> Let's face it...anyone using passthru printing in the age of IP-ready
> printers is a bit behind the curve, or is dealing in kiosks--which you also
> cornered quite well.

Whoa whoa whoa... 90% of our users are remote from their servers on 
utterly unmanaged ad-hoc home and small business lans, using a server in 
a hosting facility somewhere.

Passthru printing is utter magic for that. You don't configure squat. If 
they managed to log in at all, then they automatically also managed to 
provide the channel for the server to print to something near them for free.

Yeah there are still other details to get right before something pops 
out on a piece of paper somewhere, but those details mostly already had 
to be handled anyways just like connecting to the internet somehow had 
to be handled before the terminal emulator could be used.

It's potentially the most automatic and brainless simple process 
possible until such time as something better gets invented and then goes 
on to become a standard and then goes on to get implemented everywhere. 
Such a better thing, like some sort of new middle transport layer 
protocol for talking to devices, is doable, but it doesn't exist yet 
outside of limited special environments like various remote desktop 
products.

So until then, no passthru printing is in no way automatically "behind 
the curve" any more than writing text to communicate is behind the curve 
since the ability to record a video has existed for so long.

-- 
bkw