I'd like to network my and another computer so that I can use a printer that's attached to the other computer. The other computer has Windows XP. Both computers are plugged into a dsl gateway, mine by ethernet the other by usb. I know that I can network them using the dsl box because I'v done it before with another computer. Before I look deeper into this I'd like to have all the tools at hand. I'm not interested with sharing files with the other computer, just using the printer so will samba be necessary? What commands will I need? Thank you.

It depends on the type of printer and the kind of connection it has to the network. If the computer is connected directly to the network and supports the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), you might not need samba. If the computer is plugged into the XP machine and is basically a peripheral with no IP address of its own, you will probably need to use samba.

My comp isn't connected to the XP comp it connects directly to the gateway. The printer is an HP 3in1 but for now I'm only intrested in using t printer function. Thanks for the response.

Do you mean that the if the XP comp supports ipp then I won't need samba? Or if the linux box supports ipp (isn't that a part of cups?) then I won't need samba? Thanks.

I meant that if the printer is a network printer (i.e. it is plugged into the router, not one of the computers) and it supports IPP, you probably won't need samba.

Then in that case I'll need samba.