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rickrich
wrote on the 29 Feb 08 at 00:30
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This is NOT FOSS software. Sorry.
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unit3
wrote on the 29 Feb 08 at 02:51
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As well, I would say that these days most printers are supported through open source drivers. In fact, I find Linux has better printer support than Mac OS. So it seems like perhaps your basic premise is flawed.
Of course, I only use laser printers since inkjets are just throwing your money away. Maybe this is your real problem?
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@rickrich
It's GPL now. See:
http://www.novell.com/products/linuxpackages/suselinux/ddiwrapper.html
@unit3
Should people buy a printer that works on Ubuntu or should a (alreay bought) printer "just works(TM)"? (IMHO the last) It is true that the cost per on a laserprinter is much lower then inkjet prints, but buying a laserprinter is no garantee that it works on Ubuntu**. Because, especially the more affordable color laser printers (Yes people want to print in color nowdays), use mostly propetary languages with no garantee of support. I think that you can't expect that non technical people understand that you have to buy a printer met PCL or Postscript, because they don't want to know there printer communicates and work. Finally, you can't compare photo's made by a laserprinter with high glossy photo's made by an inkjet.
**At the moment Iam helping someone to get a laserprinter to work that refuces to work unther Ubuntu
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SeySayux
wrote on the 29 Feb 08 at 07:21
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The more hardware support, the better. But since I only use HP printers, it isn't of much importance for me. But still voted up, for all those other users.
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rickrich
wrote on the 29 Feb 08 at 11:22
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But the *drivers* AREN"T FOSS.
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Should be treated the same way ndiswrapper is, available but not the default.
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I got my Canon Pixma IP 1800 to work, but it needed a lot of huntnig for drivers and help from the forum. (Canon's drivers are rpm only and the conversionwith 'alien' is apparently problematic.)
My requirements are simple, but this sort of thing must work for Ubuntu to be usable.
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ww
wrote on the 1 Mar 08 at 07:48
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I agree, i would be very nice if installing of printers wont take me 2-3 hours to find drivers and get them installed, without having to edit several files.
Just make it easy to install a printer.
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t-servi
wrote on the 3 Mar 08 at 13:11
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Hello,
Make real Ubuntu drivers will be better.
Best regards.
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@t-servi
I know that we ultimately should work to native drivers, but as long as the manufacturers doesn't give info or any help it is a very hard and a very time consuming job. I think that with this method we can add printers to work in weeks instead of years. I hope that when more people are using Linux the manufacturers understand that real Linux drivers should be there and that they will make them. For now we are stuck with the things we have now and we should make the best of it.
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fhmanas
wrote on the 22 Apr 08 at 14:51
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As somebody switching from Windows, I would want that my new OS (Ubuntu) be able to recognize my existing hardware. I don't agree with the solution that since your hardware is not supported that i should right away go out and purchase new hardware.
I agree with this proposition that having ddiwrapper as an option, maybe not a default, is a great idea. Anyway, since we bought the printer, we are entitled to the drivers anyway, in any form it may come.
If ddiwrapper, can make my Canon work, I wish it wouldn't be hard for me to try to port ddiwrapper.rpm to .deb
For a noobie, this is a lot of work. It's not helping the cause of Linux (whatever flavor) to promote as incompatible with any hardware.
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fhmanas
wrote on the 24 Apr 08 at 04:39
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BTW, anybody who can help me find ddiwrapper in .deb format or at least help me recompile the source to deb. Alien did not work in converting the rpm
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redadept
wrote on the 29 May 08 at 03:17
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There are three things that keep me tied to WindowsXP. The first is color management, although LittleCMS on Ubuntu is coming along. The second is photo management software such as Adobe Lightroom, although Bibble under Linux is a good alternative. The third and most important is printer and scanner drivers. The best printers available for photographers and graphic designers are wide-carriage inkjets, specifically from Epson and Canon. I just did a design seminar last week for New Hampshire librarians on how to effectively use FOSS packages such as OO Draw, GIMP, Inkscape and Scribus. I never once mentioned Linux as an option. Why? Although the operating system is first class, there are no Linux drivers / maintenance utilities for the Epson Stylus 1400 (now under $300) or any of the newer 13" wide (or wider) inkjets from Canon or HP. It's not a matter of "economical" -- you NEED at least 13"x19" borderless color prints in order to attract attention to your poster on the bulletin board. "Freedom of choice" in an operating system is worthless if I cannot choose the best printer for my particular application.
As an aside, I use the 17" Epson Stylus Photo 3800 in my personal work as a photographer. I cannot imaging giving that up (along with Adobe Lightroom) just to save a hundred bucks on the Windows tax ...
Short answer: a way of fully using WinXP (or Mac) printer drivers under Ubuntu would remove a major hurdle for many of us who are considering Linux as a WinXP replacement.
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Ubuntu desperately needs to improve printer support - either with more native drivers, or the workaround suggested in this thread.
Shuttleworth's recent comment that the focus for the next two years is to make the linux desktop into "something that's art" is admirable, but will not solve the overarching interest in greater market share.
Ease of use when setting up systems - including device interoperatibility is critical, and we can't hang our hat on drivers not being FOSS, and expect every person to abandon their devices and switch to linux. Canon is a huge provider of printers, and it is very difficult to get many of the devices working with linux (I have two Canon devices, an MFD and an inkjet - neither of which is supported).
To improve adoption we need better device support, a prettier interface will help - but will entirely solve the problem by itself.
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The Enduser does not care why his or her printer is not working. Developing foss drivers for all the unsupported printers out there is the right thing to do on the long term.
An immediate improvement of the situation could be achieved using and further extending the capabilities of ddiwrapper.
Thus ddiwrapper should be shipped with ubuntu.
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The Enduser does not care why his or her printer is not working. Developing foss drivers for all the unsupported printers out there is the right thing to do on the long term.
An immediate improvement of the situation could be achieved using and further extending the capabilities of ddiwrapper.
Thus ddiwrapper should be shipped with ubuntu.
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Post your comment
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Blueprint printing-unsupported-printers:
Ubuntuforums.org thread #704323
