CUPS anyone ?
I wonder, is anyone really working on packaging CUPS (the new printing
system based on IPP) ?
There was ITP about 5 months ago, I think. But nothing happened ever
since.
I have been using CUPS since its early beta (together with thir commercial
GUI interface to it). And I can tell, it is a tuly wonderful thing, which
finally eliminates one of the major shortcomings of Linux - the horror of
printing.
In particular:
- it allows selection of every feature of a printer through the use of
PPD files (like resolution, duplex, paper source, output tray, n-up, etc.)
- it significantly simplifies administration by eliminating the need to
distribute /etc/printcap files and create spool dirs.
- it makes filtering much more regular and straightforward (with MIME
types, multistep filtering, etc.)
- it is based on the new industry-standard printing protocol (IPP), and
supports all major protocol to communicate with the printer (like lpr,
JetDirect, SMB, etc.)
- it allows printer manufacturers to easily provide srivers for their
printers (in the form of PPD and, possibly, postscript interpreter).
I tuly hope that eventually CUPS is going to be THE standard, and tightly
ingrated into the OS. I hope that a GUI interface (similar to SGI's glp)
will eventually be developed for KDE and GNOME, and integrated into the
KDE and GNOME applications.
But for now it would be nice to have at least the CUPS to be packaged. The
standard lpr is just too crude in comparison.
Unfortunately, I'm not a developer and don't have time to package miself.
I just wanted to point out a really good thing, that does not get
attention it deserves.
Sergey.
Reply to: