hello
i am working with Debian squeeze 6.0 network install.
bare bones, Zero GUI.
just trying to learn the back end. No GUI, do not want it !.

i would assume from previous reading that a person would first need to detect the device in the hardware port.
Looking in /dev/usb shows a file by name of 1p0.
that does not seem familiar.

Question: is that it.

does the whole operating system need to be re started.
or
does the user account need to be rebooted.

to have the program re start and recognize the hardware device.

Thanks

This is your USB printer.

The device block is lp0, first letter is a lower case L not a number 1. No, you do not need to restart anything.

To get the printer working, you will need cups installed. Then you need the kernel module ( driver) for your printer installed. It may be there, if you have a common printer, or available from the Deb repos. You need to configure the printer in cups. I have never done it without a gui. Cups user interface is through a web browser. If you do not want to use it, you will have to research how to configure your printer.