Re: On IP addresses and bus tripe [was: CUPS - how to match autodetected printers to physical ones]
On Sat 09 Apr 2022 at 08:33:31 +0200, tomas@tuxteam.de wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 08, 2022 at 08:52:26PM +0100, Brian wrote:
>
> [...]
>
> > You didn't like my bus analogy, did you?
>
> I did like it. Nevertheless, I thought something's missing:
In general, analogies don't really work, do they?
> > What makes you think that knowing a bus number and destination
> > provudes information for where it departs from?
> >
> > What makes you think that knowing an IP address tells you where
> > any machine of any description is located?
>
> This is, of course, not guaranteed. But "the system" might provide
> for the user not being an idiot and perhaps having bits of info
> "the system" doesn't.
>
> In Greg's (was he the OP? I lost the thread in the process) case
> it's the IP address stuck on the printer (most printers these days
> tell you, if you ticke their menus for long enough, BTW).
Setting up a queue in some circumstances may require knowledge of
an IP address. Printing to it doesn't. The wrong path was taken.
> In the bus's case, perhaps there is a big sign on the parking lot
> "NEUF-BRISACH". There, that's your IP address.
>
> Back to the printers, I'm horrified at the idea that CUPS doesn't
> tell you the IP address it thinks the printer is at. It's what
> I call "authoritarian software", where the software thinks it's
> smarter than me. Don't get me wrong, I like comfort like the next
> guy, but I don't like being treated like an idiot.
What is important for printing is the queue name (the destination)
an the URI. Cups will take care of all the nitty-gritty in getting
the job to the printer. A card with the queue name would have saved
much head scratching.
> Look: if some programmer gal thinks she's smarter than me, I go
> "arrogant gal, but who knows, probably she's right". But if a
> piece of software does that, I tend to kick it out of my box.
> My box, my rules :)
>
> And yes: no CUPS (no Avahi either) on my box :-)
Avahi is not mandatory for printing. However, it does benefit many
users.
Plug in a mouse. It wors straightaway. Nobody gives it a secomd
thought. Nowadays, plug in a modern printer to USB and, with Avahi,
it is immediately available for printing. What is there to dislike?
People have been asking for this level of operation for years.
--
Brian.
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