| Weblog: | To push desktop Linux, radical shift may be required | |
| Subject: | Re: Printer driver as barrier to adoption | |
| Date: | 2003-11-13 11:48:04 | |
| From: | anonymous2 | |
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Response to: Radical shift
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| Which printers? Nearly all laser printers support PostScript, which means that you can print to them from Linux with ease. Inkjet printers that don't support PostScript, but instead use a manufacturer's proprietary printer language, usually will work with a driver for a similar printer using the same printer language. A specific driver for a given printer model, a driver that supports all the optional hardware doo-dads you can install, will often lag the release of the hardware, sometimes for years. But you should still be able to print to the printer in the meantime. You just won't be able to, say, duplex print your envelope from the fifth optional tray. | ||
Showing messages 1 through 2 of 2.
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Re: Printer driver as barrier to adoption
2003-11-13 13:28:50 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Exactly! I have printers that windows can't print to without the printers drivers, but linux and mac can.
When I use the generic postscript with windows it prints out tons of ascii, but cups handled it well.
| Showing messages 1 through 2 of 2. |
Linux has better printer support than ANY other OS. That includes Windows. The flaw is the lack of automatic detection. They're fairly easy to set up, and compared to Windows 3.1 (or /maybe/ 95), equivalent in ease. But compared to current Windows versions, they're just not as easy to set up.