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List: kde-linux
Subject: [kde-linux] KDE printing
From: Bruce Miller <subscribe () brmiller ! ca>
Date: 2009-02-21 15:46:42
Message-ID: 193489.65966.qm () web88306 ! mail ! re4 ! yahoo ! com
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James,
I tend to lurk on the KDE Linux list. My questions (and answers) are relatively \
infrequent. I have been watching your recent posts and the replies they have brought, \
particularly from Anne Wilson. I feel compelled to take sides --- and to take Anne's \
side unreservedly. Long time lurking has shown me that Anne is consistently one of \
the most courteous and helpful people on this list. When she gets impatient with \
someone else, the other person needs to look hard at what s/he is doing.
No-one will ever claim that Linux is bug-free. Nor will they claim that it is always \
easy to configure. But the kinds of problems that you have been reporting turn out to \
be user error far more frequently than serious bugs or underlying poor design. If you \
had the experience to be able to judge whether your problems are configuration errors \
or bugs, you would not be asking questions the way that you do. The upshot is that \
you put a lot of people's backs up by writing as if you are more expert than they and \
than the collected developers and by suggesting --- which you have been doing --- \
that your problems always result from bugs and/or poor design. I can guarantee you a \
more sympathetic and a more friendly hearing if you adopt a more humble approach. \
Have you considered an approach like this?: 1) this is the basic configuration;
2) attempting to implement "x";
3) have taken the following troubleshooting steps;
4) these are results so far;
5) request further advice
With your current printer problems, I recommend that you go back to basics:
1. check your printer model on the OpenPrinting database. The traditional URL is \
linuxprinting.org and more recently, openprinting.org. Both resolve to \
"http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/OpenPrinting". You can establish there that your \
printer is supported in Linux and which driver works best. 2. How is your printer \
connected?: parallel, USB or network? If it is corrected directly (parallel or USB), \
your task should be trivial; if it is network, you have more analysis to do and the \
CUPS terminology involves some "decoding." If it is a free-standing networking \
device, can you ping its IP address? If it is attached to another host on the \
network, can you ping the host? If the ping is successful, you still need to work out \
how to define the printer address in your confuration. 3. Does your system \
recognize the presence of a locally attached printer? What do lspci -v and/or lshw \
report? If it is a USB printer, is there a /proc entry for it? 4. Printer \
configuration is a one-time task. Since it involves hardware management, it always \
requires *_root_* access. Printer use is a user task and should always be done from \
an unprivileged account. 5. Choose your printer configuration tool. For my money, \
the old kprinter tool was the easiest to use. If you still have KDE3.x available, I \
recommend it highly: look under the KDE Control Center or in the base kprinter dialog \
for the Add Printer icon (a wand). If you don't have access to kprinter, the \
Web-based interface to CUPS (http://localhost:631) is your next best choice. The \
terminology on the CUPS setup screens is technically precise but not always \
intuitive. But if CUPS does not recognize your printer *_and_* successfully print a \
test page, you need to look hard for a configuration error before you allege a bug. \
6. Distribution-specific printer configuration tools tend to be more problematic \
and less reliable than kprinter or CUPS, but they can still be useful to ensure that \
your system recognizes the presence of a printer.
Setting up a printer is one of the most potentially frustrating tasks in Linux. There \
is an infamous rant by Eric Raymond several years ago about how unintuitive it used \
to be/to some people still is. Google will help you find it. But remember that Unix \
was originally written to support a typesetting system and one of its core strengths \
has always been precise control over printing.
Over the last several years, the combination of KDE and CUPS has shown itself a \
superbly reliable way to gain access to UNIX's precise control over printing. It is \
time to stop complaining about your tools and to learn how to use them as a \
craftsman.
Best regards
Bruce Miller
--
Bruce Miller, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
bruce@brmiller.ca; (613) 745-1151
Commenting on budget forecasting on the day the budget of the Government of Canada \
was announced, a retired senior manager of Environment Canada said on the CBC that \
"economists were invented to make weather forecasters look good."
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<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} \
--></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman,new \
york,times,serif;font-size:12pt">James,<br>I tend to lurk on the KDE Linux list. My \
questions (and answers) are relatively infrequent. I have been watching your recent \
posts and the replies they have brought, particularly from Anne Wilson. I feel \
compelled to take sides --- and to take Anne's side unreservedly. Long time lurking \
has shown me that Anne is consistently one of the most courteous and helpful people \
on this list. When she gets impatient with someone else, the other person needs to \
look hard at what s/he is doing.<br><br>No-one will ever claim that Linux is \
bug-free. Nor will they claim that it is always easy to configure. But the kinds of \
problems that you have been reporting turn out to be user error far more frequently \
than serious bugs or underlying poor design. If you had the experience to be able to \
judge whether your problems are configuration errors or bugs, you would not be \
asking questions the way that you do. The upshot is that you put a lot of people's \
backs up by writing as if you are more expert than they and than the collected \
developers and by suggesting --- which you have been doing --- that your problems \
always result from bugs and/or poor design. I can guarantee you a more sympathetic \
and a more friendly hearing if you adopt a more humble approach. Have you considered \
an approach like this?:<br>1) this is the basic \
configuration;<br>2) attempting to implement \
"x";<br>3) have taken the following troubleshooting \
steps;<br>4) these are results so far;<br>5) \
request further advice<br><br>With your current printer problems, I recommend that \
you go back to basics:<br>1. check your printer model on the \
OpenPrinting database. The traditional URL is linuxprinting.org and more recently, \
openprinting.org. Both resolve to "http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/OpenPrinting". \
You can establish there that your printer is supported in Linux and which driver \
works best.<br>2. How is your printer connected?: parallel, USB or \
network? If it is corrected directly (parallel or USB), your task should be trivial; \
if it is network, you have more analysis to do and the CUPS terminology involves some \
"decoding." If it is a free-standing networking device, can you ping its IP address? \
If it is attached to another host on the network, can you ping the host? If the ping \
is successful, you still need to work out how to define the printer address in your \
confuration. <br>3. Does your system recognize the presence of a \
locally attached printer? What do lspci -v and/or lshw report? If it is a USB \
printer, is there a /proc entry for it?<br>4. Printer configuration \
is a one-time task. Since it involves hardware management, it always requires \
*_root_* access. Printer use is a user task and should always be done from an \
unprivileged account.<br>5. Choose your printer configuration tool. \
For my money, the old kprinter tool was the easiest to use. If you still have KDE3.x \
available, I recommend it highly: look under the KDE Control Center or in the base \
kprinter dialog for the Add Printer icon (a wand). If you don't have access to \
kprinter, the Web-based interface to CUPS (http://localhost:631) is your next best \
choice. The terminology on the CUPS setup screens is technically precise but not \
always intuitive. But if CUPS does not recognize your printer *_and_* successfully \
print a test page, you need to look hard for a configuration error before you allege \
a bug.<br>6. Distribution-specific printer configuration tools tend \
to be more problematic and less reliable than kprinter or CUPS, but they can still \
be useful to ensure that your system recognizes the presence of a \
printer.<br><br>Setting up a printer is one of the most potentially frustrating tasks \
in Linux. There is an infamous rant by Eric Raymond several years ago about how \
unintuitive it used to be/to some people still is. Google will help you find it. But \
remember that Unix was originally written to support a typesetting system and one of \
its core strengths has always been precise control over printing.<br><br>Over the \
last several years, the combination of KDE and CUPS has shown itself a superbly \
reliable way to gain access to UNIX's precise control over printing. It is time to \
stop complaining about your tools and to learn how to use them as a \
craftsman.<br><br>Best regards<br>Bruce Miller<br><br><div> </div>--<br>Bruce \
Miller, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada<br>bruce@brmiller.ca; (613) \
745-1151<br><br><div>Commenting on budget forecasting on the day the budget of the \
Government of Canada was announced, a retired senior manager of Environment Canada \
said on the CBC that "economists were invented to make weather forecasters look \
good."<div><br></div></div></div></body></html>
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