(CUPS is developed by OpenPrinting and distributed as open source software under the Apache License, Version 2.0 with exceptions to allow linking to GPL2/LGPL2)

Look this OpenPrinting/cups/commit:

https://github.com/OpenPrinting/cups...ecad57526091b9

The new cups OpenPrinting web site:

https://openprinting.github.io/cups/index.html

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What does this mean for those of us who want to use a printer in Linux?


The printer drivers are under the control of the manufacturers it seems, and some, like Canon are not especially friendly to Linux even at this late date in time.

I found an article that may shed some light on this: https://linuxreviews.org/Apple's_CUP..._A_Quiet_Death

A quick read indicates that Apple is no longer using CUPS for printer management in iJunk, and openprinting has forked the project.

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Interesting, that explains a weird glitch. After the latest MacOS update/rolling upgrade on the wife's macbook air (don't ask...), the HP printer refused to "print", even after following Apples and HP's how-to to reinstall the drivers. I switched on airprint on the printer, removed HP drivers, and "poof" the macbook scanned, found the HP airprint printer.

Needless to say "those motherf***kers..."

One a side note, Canon does provide Linux Printer drivers, if you dig enough (Canon TR8520). Found the binary blobs with a script the builds a rpm and then used rpm2tgz. I might clean that up for SBo.

For info, i use this new version of cups since the first version with my 'HP-OfficeJet-Pro 8715' without problem, the cups.SlackBuild work for build this version, although it requires some improvements.

https://github.com/OpenPrinting/cups/releases

We bought an oddball Canon IMAGE Class printer MF4420v a few years ago and it is really tough to configure for CUPS. I did the whole rpm and rpm2tgz thing also and it is hit-and-miss to get it to work. There are a lot of hoops to jump through and various .ppd files and other miscellanea.

The last 2 times I tried it a strange error was generated and I stopped.

Over the years I have found HP printers to be the gold standard in Linux driver compatibility.

(Full disclosure: I have no relationship or invested interests in the corporation; I wish the Hewlett and Packard families the best.)

HP, printers only for me, since long time .

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They have been uninvolved with the company for years, it only has their names now. Nothing of the spirit of their works lives on, the bean counters have long since assumed control.

This year will be 21 years for me with a HP Deskjet 930C I use it only for BW. I have another HP, an all in one something or other that I use mostly as a scanner/coppier and sometime colour printer. Had a cannon once. What a pain in the butt!

Nice to see CUPS back as OS.

I try to find the most widely produced generic office printer with affordable toner -- the inkjets all start drying up the moment their cartridges are punctured, and use even more ink in their self cleaning routines; with digital screens and picture frames, I don't actually print the fancy photo paper stuff anymore... so the standard office laser printer is HP -- and they have that hplip which is different than cups, so the drivers seem safe.

The HP LaserJetPro M201dw did jam on me for the first time in 4 years, right when I needed documents for DMV and I missed my appointment--I looked into replacing it, and found that it was such a dependable little beast and got such good user reviews, that it's actually increased in value by over hundred $usd !!! The office is being relocated, and I had to temporarily set that printer up on our dining room table. Turned out, after lots of cleaning everywhere I could, the next sheet came out with a piece of tortilla stuck to it It prints fine again, and is the only office equipment that I might have to pay capital gains tax on.

Same here. My HP Laserjet P2015 unit is working well, it's got to be well over 10 years old. I can't kill it.
I've had a look at Brother as they advertise Linux compatibility, but, I don't need to get a new unit.

I had no problem (just a bit of digging) to find a driver for a midline home Canon inkjet printer/scanner/copier/fax, but it was a few years old by the time I started using Linux, Ubuntu 2016 and Slackware 2017. Everything worked on both Ubuntu and Slackware until the print head plugged badly after not printing for awhile. By that time, replacement cartridges were getting hard to find and more expensive. Now it’s just a fax machine a couple of times a year.

Same brief digging for a driver for an old Dell (rebranded Samsung) B&W laserjet.

A newish “cheap” (purchase price - cartridges are pricy) HP inkjet was just picked up in both, although Xubuntu 20.04 has had occasional problems recognizing it. 16.04 or 18.04 and Slackware 14.2 have never had a problem.

I looked at Brother and Epson inktank models. Both had Linux drivers on the manufacturers’ websites, although I didn’t buy so didn’t test.

I didn’t buy because my family and I don’t print often anymore, and very rarely in colour.

My approach next time will be to narrow down to a few interesting models, then find out which have available Linux printer drivers.

Next printer will probably be a B&W laserjet. Since I have several print & copy shops nearby, they will do my colour prints when (if) needed.

TKS

Sad, but true. In the not too distant past they had, IMHO, an incompetent CEO who gave the company, for all practical purposes, the coup de grâce. "Modern" corporate executives seem to be devoid of anythng even remotely resembling ethics.

I've always bought HP and have an older HP inkjet that still does the job.
OTOH, a friend, who does a great deal of color printing, got tired of paying HP's grossly exorbitant prices for ink and went shopping for an alternative. After doing the research he purchased a Epson with ink reservoirs and a few other bells and whistles. He claims it is just as good, if not better than, the HP and the ink is "cheap" in comparsion. IIRC, he claimed the money he saved on ink in the first six months, as compared to the HP, was enough to have paid for the printer.
He does keep an HP LaserJet for printing B&W documents.