fyi: all-in-one, postscript printer

[C M Reinehr]

On Fri 17 February 2012 09:42:43 am Andrew Gould wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 5:19 AM, Man-wai Chang <mwchang at hkbn.net> wrote:
> >> Finding a good printer was a real struggle while using FreeBSD (which
> >> is now a moot point).  However, I found an all-in-one, postscript
> >> printer that's still commonly available.  Lexmark's Pro915 speaks
> >> postscript, so I was able to configure it as a generic postscript
> >> printer using CUPS.
> > 
> > There should be postscript software drivers that decipher postscript
> > input into codes for non-postscript printers?
> > 
> > --
> 
> Until recently, I was running FreeBSD, where printer drivers are
> problematic.  The ability of a printer to speak postscript simplifies
> the situation greatly.  CUPS handles this printer fine using the
> generic postscript driver.
> 
> I wasn't able to scan from the device over the network, but that's
> also true for all of the computers/operating systems in the house.
> I've been told that network printing/scanning is often problematic
> when an ATT U-verse router is in the way. At least printing is
> working.  I can scan to a USB thumb drive as a scanning work-around.
> 
> Andrew

Andrew,

Strictly speaking, a linux system does needs no "drivers" to communicate with 
a postscript printer. AFAIK all free applications generate output either in 
plain text or in postscript, both of which can be sent directly to the 
printer. All CUPS needs is a description of the printer -- a PPD file -- which 
I generally rob from a M$ Windows driver package. You can fancy-up your plain 
text output by running it through enscript before sending it to the printer, 
which will convert it into postscript.

HTH

cmr
-- 
Debian 'Lenny' - Registered Linux User #241964
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