[lsb-discuss] [Printing-summit] Printer/driver testing andcertification

Till Kamppeter till.kamppeter at gmail.com
Thu Aug 24 01:40:16 PDT 2006


I do not try to standardize any user interface with the planned
printing-related additions to the LSB. Everything is either to have
standardized application interfaces to the printing environment or
standardized printer driver interfaces. Printer drivers are running
fully in user space, so they are also somewhat like applications.

And the driver interfaces are once the communication with the renderer,
therefore we need IJS and OpenPrinting Vector, and also the integration
with the printing system, which is not always CUPS, therefore I
recommend foomatic-rip, which integrates the driver with most known
printing systems, making a driver package independent of the printing
system actually used.

I addition, standard directories for drivers and PPDs were worked out,
so that a system can easily find available drivers.

   Till

Matt Taggart wrote:
> Till Kamppeter writes...
> 
>> My thought was that LSB is standardizing what the distros are
>> delivering.
> 
> The LSB standardizes the _interfaces_ that the distros are delivering, but 
> not the _implementations_.
> 
>  Every distro currently ships foomatic-rip. foomatic-rip is
>> also useful for PostScript printers, as it allows to use PPDs also in
>> non-CUPS environments. LSB does not only contain things which are needed
>> by EVERY user, but many things which are used by MANY users.
> 
> The LSB standardizes things that are needed by _applications_ and not 
> _users_. It is a development standard, not a user standard, it is for 
> portability of applications not users (or sysadmins).
> 
> We've talked in the past about if there is a need for a user standard. 
> Portability of users and sysadmins would be nice, and it might help for 
> user and admin training and certification (like what LPI does). But that 
> would need to be a different standard.
> 
> So this printing stuff that you are working on, are you standardizing 
> application interfaces or user interfaces? If the former then it can maybe 
> go in the LSB, if the latter it will need to be a different standard.
> 




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