[Printing-architecture] Automatic printer setup with Printer Applications
Till Kamppeter
till.kamppeter at gmail.com
Wed Feb 24 18:47:01 UTC 2021
On 24/02/2021 15:46, Johannes Meixner wrote:
>
> I like to add that in enterprise environments
> automated printer setup is almost never needed.
>
Yes, that is true.
All about automatic print queue creation with Printer Applications is
for end-user-oriented desktop distros.
> So nowadays any further efforts for automated printer setup
> could be mostly a waste of time - time that could be better
> spend elsewhere (even if that is just more time for beer ;-)
>
> The more I think about it the more I like the idea
> to deprectate all printer setup tools and related stuff
> except what CUPS itself provides.
>
> For the exceptional cases only documentation should be sufficient
> like "when you have 'ACME SpecialPrinter XL' do this and that".
>
Yes, I am also in favor of deprecating the classic printer setup tool.
Instead, we need the following:
1. A local/network service manager (could be an item of GNOME Control
Center): Take avahi-discover. It lists a lot of services, local (Avahi
0.8.x+) and network services, sorted by network interface, then by
service type. The tool I have in mind should list them in a
user-friendly way, so that one sees for example a Printer Application,
shows some property info like printing/scanning/faxout, button to open
web interface, button to open IPP System Service status/config panel,
list of printers (and scanners) with properties like size class (A4, A3,
larger, smaller, ...), color/gray, duplex, ... Also useful entries for
services which are no Printer Applications (for example your router, no
need to know its IP, you have a button for its web interface now). All
info needed by this tool comes from DNS-SD (Avahi on Linux).
2. A "driver finder": A tool which helps you to find the correct Printer
Application if you have Acme LaserStar 1000+ and this is not a
driverless printer. It more or less guides the user through the scheme
of Michael's posting in this thread.
Till
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