Bug#1111315: RFP: gutenprint-printer-app -- Gutenprint Printer Application

[John Scott <jscott@posteo.net>]

Thorsten Alteholz <debian@alteholz.de> wrote to Martin:
> When cups v3 is ready for production (maybe end of this year), you need to use a printer application in case your printer does not support IPP Everywhere. At least for Forky I am trying to make both cups v2 and cups v3 available and either of them can be used.

If you do make CUPS 3 uploads to experimental before then, I would be happy to take them for a spin.

Also, I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I have reservations about IPP printers—they are much more capable and versatile, but that comes with a consequence; "driverless" is really a misnomer. Modern printers and page description languages take away much of the job done by a host computer's software, and they instead do those functions (like rasterization) using software *on the printer*. Thus they usually require much more proprietary software to be tied to the product which may include a full-blown real-time operating system. From a software freedom point of view they do muddy the waters—even many consumer printers nowadays have wireless features too!

This shift in the architecture of consumer printers is concerning—it seals the fate that printing with free software is only going to get harder, not easier. I know you didn't have this in mind when you said it, but if the day really were to come that I had to buy an IPP printer, and the options aren't better than they are now, it would be a very sad setback for me.