Hi,

I have two Linux machines both running Debian (I do not want Windows to be involved at all). One is a desktop and one is a laptop. I desire to connect a not-yet-purchased printer/scanner combination machine only to the internal LAN via my router (Linksys WRT54G) via Ethernet cable, or via wireless if the printer/scanner has that capability. I want to be able to print to that printer (and scan from its scanner) by only having to turn on the printer/scanner and only one of the other computers, and not have to have both Linux machines turned on in order to print and/or scan.

So my questions are:

1. When I look at specific models of printers, what should I be looking for in their specifications that indicates that this configuration is possible (i.e., should I be looking exclusively for printers that say they are "wireless printers" or "network printers")?
   1. The reason I ask this question: In my online searching, I thought "networked printer" or "stand-alone network printer" meant just that, but what I found instead are pages and pages of instructions on how to connect the printer locally to a Linux machine, with the associated setup to allow that Linux machine to serve print requests coming from other machines on the LAN. And that approach is not what I want to do (with the notable exception of temporary setup to validate that the printer is responding to requests for printing and scanning from Linux).
2. Are there particular brands, makes, or models that I would have better luck in getting to work in this manner (i.e., "better stick with HP or Xerox")?
3. Am I kidding myself that a combination printer/scanner would work in the same fashion and still be relatively easy to set up on both Linux machines without resorting to some Windows-centric approach?

Result of my searching so far (I have not worked my way through all of these in detail, but plan to):

• References to local printer connection which is not what I want:
  • Setting_Up_a_Network_Printer_using_CUPS
  • Set up a network printer using cups
  • Set up a printer
• The post inside Setting_Up_a_Network_Printer_using_CUPS that starts with "running an HP Photosmart 8450 as a stand-alone networked printer" (where is the permalink?) is as close as I could get, but I am concerned that the instructions given are specific to the HP Photosmart 8450, or specific to the HP vendor, versus for all printers that can be connected to an Ethernet network (not that being locked into HP is going to be a problem necessarily, but I would like to know why if that is the case).
• Linux compatible printers says "Have a look at LinuxPrinting.org for known working drivers for printers data base. Also buy from a linux friendly company, ie HP, Brother, Epsom." Later in that thread, someone said Definitely don't buy canon.

Thanks!
bgoodr

When you put a printer on a network, you want to have a print server for it.
This allows the printer to accept and queue jobs. A network ready printer has
the print server built in. If a printer doesn't have a print server, cups can
provide that functionality--namely accepting and queuing jobs from the network.
It sounds like you plan to get a network ready printer, so you won't need to
provide printing services to the network by a computer that is left on all the
time.

Once you have the network printer set up, each of your Linux computers will
need to connect to the print server. Cups can do this, although there are
other methods if you don't want to use cups. Notice that using cups to
connect to a print server does not require you to use cups as a print server.

There's lots of advice about which models to buy or brands to avoid. Google
is your friend. Just make sure that the particular model you're looking at is
supported in Linux.

To answer your questions:
1. Look for a network ready printer that accepts a network cable or wifi connections.
2. Check linuxprinting.org before buying a particular model.
3. No problem setting up the printer to work on two or more computers. I can't
speak for the scanning features. It's possible that the scanner will only
work on one computer at a time. Check that the scanner is supported in Linux
before buying.

2 members found this post helpful.

Thanks. That was the piece of the puzzle I was missing (I suspected so but didn't know for sure).

As for linuxprinting.org, that maps to http://www.linuxfoundation.org/colla...s/openprinting

Thanks again for the tips!
bg