I'm not scared of IPP. For sure, Linux will do it better, if it has to be done, and keep compatibility with old systems. My printer goes direct from app to an IP. As long as they sell pattern cartridges, I won't swap it.

Other than a really shitty LexMark Ink Jet that came with a computer that my father purchased for the family back in the early to mid 2000s which was a PITA get working with anything but Windows and Mac OS. On the flip side we for years we had a HP deskjet 540C parallel port based printer, after the LexMark printer went boink my father purchase an HP all in one. We have since pretty much only purchased HP Net Work connected. printers.

Nobody swhould ever, ever buy a Lexmark. They sell the printers at a loss & cream off on the cartridges. The one supplied with the printer is nearly empty.

Hi,

I've been using Brother Printers for years. I never have issues installing my selected printer(s). I do use 'CUPS' and Brother print drivers. I find sockets easy to setup for my networks. Brother prices are a value for money spent when you smart shop. Generally I will purchase through Best Buy with some open box purchases that were successful after requesting a test page printing. I did need to return one open box but after that I always look at the printer before purchase. I will never purchase a 'as is' open box from Best Buy.

I know a few technicians that work the geek squad back in my home state and feel their skills are minimal. Here in Florida I don't know as many so I'm leery of their qualifications after speaking with a few.

Run, screaming, from Lexmark. A long time ago I fought with one of those. There was some c++ code you had to build from someone's project and make a driver for it to "work". I'm not sure if it ever printed a page. Ultimately it went in the trash. Now that I think of it, that Lexmark is probably responsible for my hatred of printers.

I wonder why there isn't an open source inkjet printer?

AMEN to that. If you ever had got it running, you'd have found that the cartridges have NO INK.

A printer isn't practical as an OSS project. Software may be free, but hardware design certainly isn't. It's 3 years full time for a couple of mechanical engineers. Any plastic mouldings are vastly expensive. And printing is an advanced science. Your capital investment would be at least €5 million, for a printer appealing to <3% of the computer owning community.

I wonder why there isn't an open source monkey?

First of all, I would categorically say that you should never use "ink-jet" printers. The reason why they "give away the handle" is that they intend to screw you with "selling the blade." A laser printer will be much more satisfactory and with lower cost of ownership.

Fortunately, at least for laser printers today we have "driverless printing," and there are several ways to do it and CUPS should support them all. The burden has now been shifted away from "the host" to the now-very-considerable computing power of "the printer itself." (Yay!)

However, all that now having been said: "installing a printer, on any system, is still usually a pain in the a&s." "Why doesn't it 'just work?'" Well, because it doesn't.

Used to be. For the last few years, it is simply plug printer into network switch. Linux System(s) somehow find it. Immediately start using it. Can't get any easier.