So I heard about this printer that connects to the Web via modem and prints off anything emailed to it. (Sounds like a spam danger to me!) Anyway, it's targeted at your parents who don't get online etc. and it lets you send them emails and photos that will automatically print out.

Of course, like everything these days, it's subscription based... $9.99/month plus like $200 for the printer.

Now I know there's GOTTA be a way to do this from a gmail or other free account right?

Anybody have thoughts on how would I set up a linux machine to retrieve and then print text or photos automatically?

BTW I'm only fighting my way through my very first Kubuntu installation (less than 2 months ago). So, yes, I'm an uber-newbie. Please speak slowly to me.

Many thanks!

of course it's possible, this is Linux =).

What I would do is write a bash/perl script that downloads emails and print them. As for spams, you can write your script to only print emails from certain addresses.

No, I am not going to write it for you =). It is not hard at all to learn perl/bash, especially if you have prior programming experience.

Sounds to me like this company has basically reinvented the fax machine.

David... yeah almost.

Cyberfishee - ok you don't have to write it. But I'd love it if you (or anyone) could suggest some good resources for learning bash/perl. I've done a lot of Web based programming... ASP & PHP... but not perl.

Especially recommendations on email handling.

Thanks again!

I don't know any good resources as I don't know much bash/perl myself either =). Great if you know PHP though, as it can also be used as a CLI scripting language. (google "php shell scripting")

Not quite as robust as perl/bash, but good enough for simple scripts like the one you need.