Bug#908500: cups-browsed: Please consider making cups-browsed a Suggests:
On Fri 14 Sep 2018 at 20:29:22 +0100, Brian Potkin wrote:
> eOn Mon 10 Sep 2018 at 15:16:44 +0100, Brian Potkin wrote:
>
> > Package: cups-browsed
> > Version: 1.21.2-1
> > Severity: wishlist
> >
> >
> > With the introduction of cups 1.6.x the situation in respect to printing
> > to remote print queues and printers would have been dire without the
> > creation of cups-browsed. However, cups 2.2.4 and later has the ability
> > (CUPS Issue #4993) to enumerate queues and printers in print dialogs and
> > to auto-create a temporary print queue. This is used by applications
> > having the Qt dialog and printing from the command line, although the
> > GTK dialog still does its own thing.
>
> Enumeration of queues/printers in GTK apps depends neither on CUPS nor
> cups-browsed. A user printing only from GTK apps gains nothing in basic
> printing terms from cups-browsed, even if the cups service is operative.
>
> > cups-browsed is installed by default because cups-daemon (quite rightly)
> > recommends it. With the changed situation in CUPS and applications it
> > would appear that cups-browsed has less relevance with regard to printer
> > and print queue discovery and management. The Recommends field lists
> > packages that would be found with the cups package because there is a
> > strong dependency between it and cups-browsed. cups-browsed would still
> > enhance cups if changed to a Suggests:.
>
> A rough characterisation of a recommended package: OMG! cups-browsed
> isn't on the system; I cannot do these fundamental and useful things.
>
> "fundamental" and "useful" are arguable, of course, but the ability
> of cups-browsed to alter what a GTK app shows would be under the
> heading of "Enhances".
>
> > The installation of cups-browsed almost as a matter of course on many
> > buster systems also masks bugs in CUPS and applications, as it will take
> > over the management of queues/printers. A small example is CUPS Issue
> > #5045. Another example is with okular. For me, it will not print to a
> > temporary queue; with a local cups-browsed queue it will. This would
> > probably pass unnoticed as things stand now.
>
> A compromise. Reduce cups-browsed to a Suggests: from now until nearly
> the end of the freeze. Give CUPS a better chance to show what it is
> capable of without cups-browsed. Return cups-browsed to a Recommends:
> before the freeze end if it is indicated. As it stands at present, CUPS
> is crippled.
>
> I suppose a major consideration for Debian 10 is to consider what
> harm not having cups-browsed as a Recommends: does; it is basically
> a printer setup utility like s.c.p. Nobody gets upset when that is
> not automatically on the system.
From
https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-relationships.html
> Recommends
> This declares a strong, but not absolute, dependency.
>
> The Recommends field should list packages that would be found
> together with this one in all but unusual installations
Upstream says at
http://ftp.pwg.org/pub/pwg/liaison/openprinting/minutes/OP-Minutes-20170606.htm
> - cups-browsed development will continue, as an add-on for more sophisticated configurations, especially in enterprise networks.
> - cups-browsed will provide the following enhancements against a pure CUPS/print dialog setup:
> o Legacy CUPS server (1.5.x and older) interoperability
> o Interoperability with old print dialogs (which do not use cupsEnumDests() and new CUPS API)
> o Load balancing of clustered remote CUPS queues
> o Support for legacy (IPP 1.x) IPP network printers
> o Support for new driverless printing technologies not yet supported by CUPS (like PCLm)
> o Fine-grained filtering of which remote printers are available
I'd suggest the first four objectives do not promote cups-browsed being
a strong dependency. The last one appears to be unworkable with QT apps
and Libreoffice.
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