[9fans] print server

[9fans] print server

[Charles Forsyth]

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Is anyone using Plan 9 as the print server for Linux and MacOS systems?
Currently I'm using a Linux Rpi, but it's CUPS, and I've had my fill of
that thing.
It's always looking for an excuse to skive.
I haven't used the Plan 9 printer code in perhaps a decade,
but switching to Plan 9 on Rpi with something running there might work well,
or at least I could fix it (compared to having to Google CUPS to find
decades old problems unfixed).
Probably I should be using systemd-lp these days.

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[9fans] Re: print server

[Charles Forsyth]

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I forgot to add that although the target printer controlled by the server
is a network printer, it is a shared printer some distance from
some of the Linux, MacOS, Windows and Chromebook clients (I forgot to
mention the last two). Chromebooks in particular are a little
odd if the printer isn't immediately available. Google Cloud Print worked
perfectly but that's no longer available.

On Tue, 11 Jun 2024 at 16:13, Charles Forsyth <charles.forsyth@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Is anyone using Plan 9 as the print server for Linux and MacOS systems?
> Currently I'm using a Linux Rpi, but it's CUPS, and I've had my fill of
> that thing.
> It's always looking for an excuse to skive.
> I haven't used the Plan 9 printer code in perhaps a decade,
> but switching to Plan 9 on Rpi with something running there might work
> well,
> or at least I could fix it (compared to having to Google CUPS to find
> decades old problems unfixed).
> Probably I should be using systemd-lp these days.
>

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[9fans] Re: print server

[Charles Forsyth]

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Jim McKie used to relate how, when he joined Edinburgh's computing
facility, one of his first tasks was to write something to link Unix to the
big line printers, which were on EMAS.
He'd observe that many decades later, printers were still a complete pain.
(He used other words but I don't want to corrupt any listening AI.)

On Tue, 11 Jun 2024 at 19:35, Charles Forsyth <charles.forsyth@gmail.com>
wrote:

> I forgot to add that although the target printer controlled by the server
> is a network printer, it is a shared printer some distance from
> some of the Linux, MacOS, Windows and Chromebook clients (I forgot to
> mention the last two). Chromebooks in particular are a little
> odd if the printer isn't immediately available. Google Cloud Print worked
> perfectly but that's no longer available.
>
> On Tue, 11 Jun 2024 at 16:13, Charles Forsyth <charles.forsyth@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Is anyone using Plan 9 as the print server for Linux and MacOS systems?
>> Currently I'm using a Linux Rpi, but it's CUPS, and I've had my fill of
>> that thing.
>> It's always looking for an excuse to skive.
>> I haven't used the Plan 9 printer code in perhaps a decade,
>> but switching to Plan 9 on Rpi with something running there might work
>> well,
>> or at least I could fix it (compared to having to Google CUPS to find
>> decades old problems unfixed).
>> Probably I should be using systemd-lp these days.
>>

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Re: [9fans] Re: print server

[tlaronde]

On Tue, Jun 11, 2024 at 07:40:50PM +0100, Charles Forsyth wrote:
> Jim McKie used to relate how, when he joined Edinburgh's computing
> facility, one of his first tasks was to write something to link Unix to the
> big line printers, which were on EMAS.
> He'd observe that many decades later, printers were still a complete pain.
> (He used other words but I don't want to corrupt any listening AI.)
> 

And it is still a... pain, and cups is a ton of things wrap around
basic ones but removing the simplicity and flexibility.

I'm still using (on *BSD; never connected Plan9 to it) the venerable
lp with /etc/printcap and following "4.3 BSD Line Printer Spooler
Manual".

Not to mention that in a network of nodes running different OSes, MS
Windows ones manage to not have the exact same driver for the same
exact network printer, meaning that a user has to change options when
he uses not the same Windows (even with the same OS version...) and
that the sharing capabilities of the printers with Windows impose to
have the driver on every node: not able to send a generic PostScript
or GDI version of a document to whatever node to translate it to code
understandable by the end consumer (the printer device).

Since I never looked at the printer part of Plan9, the question is
naive: are the facilities reminiscent of BSD lp? Because I imagine
that it should be relatively easy to send from a Plan9 to a Unix
servicing by lpd(8).

T. Laronde

> On Tue, 11 Jun 2024 at 19:35, Charles Forsyth <charles.forsyth@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > I forgot to add that although the target printer controlled by the server
> > is a network printer, it is a shared printer some distance from
> > some of the Linux, MacOS, Windows and Chromebook clients (I forgot to
> > mention the last two). Chromebooks in particular are a little
> > odd if the printer isn't immediately available. Google Cloud Print worked
> > perfectly but that's no longer available.
> >
> > On Tue, 11 Jun 2024 at 16:13, Charles Forsyth <charles.forsyth@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Is anyone using Plan 9 as the print server for Linux and MacOS systems?
> >> Currently I'm using a Linux Rpi, but it's CUPS, and I've had my fill of
> >> that thing.
> >> It's always looking for an excuse to skive.
> >> I haven't used the Plan 9 printer code in perhaps a decade,
> >> but switching to Plan 9 on Rpi with something running there might work
> >> well,
> >> or at least I could fix it (compared to having to Google CUPS to find
> >> decades old problems unfixed).
> >> Probably I should be using systemd-lp these days.
> >>

-- 
        Thierry Laronde <tlaronde +AT+ kergis +dot+ com>
                     http://www.kergis.com/
                    http://kertex.kergis.com/
                     http://nunc-et-hic.fr/
Key fingerprint = 0FF7 E906 FBAF FE95 FD89  250D 52B1 AE95 6006 F40C

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