don at lexmark.com wrote:
> ...
> When one looks at the printing model for Windows and the Macintosh,
> it is obvious to me that Unix/Linux has failed to move forward to
> provide the full functionality and ease of use that Windows and Mac
> have provided.
>> Hence the question: Is there some standardization work the PWG can
> do to facilitate improvement of Linux/Unix printing?
Don,
Much of my presentation and whitepaper that I'll be supplying for the
Denver meeting will address this very point. We have implemented a
new open-source printing system called "CUPS" (Common UNIX Printing
System) that is based on IPP and provides a modern printing
environment for UNIX. We're working with the GNOME folks (and
hopefully soon the KDE folks) to define standard GUI APIs for printing
using CUPS. CUPS already provides the low-level interface stuff
needed to get printer capabilities, etc.
So basically I'm saying that the PWG has already done enough to get
things rolling. Right now CUPS implements all of the required ops
and most of the optional and extension operations, however to get the
admin stuff going and support multiple printers (and classes) we've
added several extension operations of our own. That's the source of
another proposal for the IPP WG that I haven't had a chance to
finish...
Unfortunately, since I'm in the middle of writing a book, finalizing
our software releases, etc., I won't be able to attend the Denver
meeting... :( Hopefully the slides and documentation I provide will
at least get some discussion going (as if the PWG needs any
encouragement! :)
--
______________________________________________________________________
Michael Sweet, Easy Software Products mike at easysw.com
Printing Software for UNIX http://www.easysw.com
"I do software development for Linux; where's my sledgehammer?"