Hi everyone,

I have to buy a multi-function printer/fax/scanner and so I need one that has full support for Linux. Do any one of you know of a good one? Which companies have Linux drivers for their printers? Thanks in advance.

'm not sure which is best, but avoid Canon like the plague. I have a new Canon multifunction door-stop. HP stuff seems to work straight away.

I am not a fan of multi-function things, but---in general---the best Linux support is from HP. Epson is also well -supported. Canon was a big zero, but I have seen hints that they may be waking up.

Thanks all, I'll concentrate my efforts on finding a HP multi-function printer. If I find one that works 100%, I'll post about it here, just in case someone needs that info.

Here's the level of support for HP printers:
http://openprinting.org/printer_list.cgi?make=HP

I also recommend HP, I've bought a lot of multifunction printers from HP and they all work great. I also had an Epson, and it worked well too, but unfortunately Epson is know for making cheap, disposable printers ... the quality is somewhat lesser.

I have a Brother MFC-5440cn that works pretty much with RPM distros, Mandriva & Fedora...those are the only ones I am able to get it to work with. Not sure how well the newer Brothers work with linux. They do offer drivers.

I have a Brother MFC 3240C that I rescued from the roadside.
Someone left the poor thing out in the rain

Anyhow, I disassembled & cleaned/repaired it and after discovering that it works (and is great shape too!), started looking into Linux compatibility. As Fred mentions above, the drivers for loads of Brother appliances, for Linux, are available as RPMs, but if you're inclined to fiddle a bit, you can probably get them to be useful for many distros by converting the RPMs. Check the Brother website.

Admittedly I have not yet done much of anything with it in the way of printing/faxing/scanning from the computer, because it is now out of ink thanks to me doing lots of head-alignment, scanning, and print-head cleaning, but the computer/kernel does see it connected.

Probably the OP will have decided on a make/model by the time I finish testing this one, but for others interested, I will make an HCL entry when I can.

As others have mentioned, HP (and EPSON stuff too) also have decent Linux compatibility (though I don't know if Epson makes any MFCs).

When you do get something, let us know how it works

Sasha

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