On 11/19/2016 10:55 AM, Brian wrote:
It was sub-thread of another thread. Starts here: https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2016/10/msg01016.html
Thanks. I think I get the idea, but I'll read that to see if I can get myself educated a little better.
Why is it important for the printer to be blobless? Look at it this way: A printer is choc-a-bloc full of firmware. None of this firmware is accessible to a user, even if something like an interpreter is based on an open standard such as PostScript. Indeed, there may be a rasteriser which itself uses a proprietary format such as URF. Suppose there are some bugs in the firmware; for example, the AirPrint facility ceases to work reliably with an i-device. This has happened in the past and the manufacturer provided a binary blob to fix it. What would you do? Ok, I'll tell you what I would do. I would get the blob and upload it to the printer to bring it back to a working state. I would do the same for a troublesome PDF rasteriser. I see no difference between doing that and getting an hplip plugin to have the printer (or scanner) working at its full potential.
I'm just a little antsy about having the unknown executable residing on my system drive. I just don't see why they felt they had to *design* the danged thing to work this way. It reeks of someone trying to get his toe in the door.
The firmware that resides in various places within the device itself at least has to restrict itself to interacting with the computer via the protocols used for printing, no? But the blob that resides on the system drive gets executed by the OS. Seems a tad too intimate for my taste.
It may simply be my ignorance which compels me to feel this way, but -- after all -- if I know that I'm ignorant of the possibilities, why shouldn't I be cautious? Yesteryear's printers and scanners had plenty enough features to suit me and didn't require the blob. I'd like to find a blobless wonder that will simply do what I need.
Funny thing, apropos of nothing, I remember the last time I installed an MFP on a Windows machine at a friend's behest. Without so much as a by your leave, the installation DVD put 1.5 gigabytes of software on the target machine. (This was the "minimal" install. It was bigger than the OS, for pity's sake!) I checked the process list and found that it had started 11 services. Yes. 11. Without. Asking. What the...
I feel the need to go back to my shed in western Kansas with my '56 Buick Special and my land line and my three static-filled TV stations.
Best, JP