Linux printing made easy, Part 1

Welcome to the latest edition of Ask the Geek. As I mentioned in my last column, this week we are going to start a series on using the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS), which can introduce a universal printing solution to your network.

The world of printing for Unix/Linux has not changed much in a very long time. We still use good old lpd (the line printer daemon), we don't have support for IPP (Internet Printing Protocol), and we still don't have the ability to use many printers. But that situation is changing, and quickly. A new product is making inroads into the printing arena.

The CUPS software provides a way for Unix/Linux users to manage printing in an efficient and reliable manner. It natively supports IPP and has interfaces for LPD, SMB (Server Message Block, i.e., printers attached to Microsoft Windows), and JetDirect. CUPS can provide network printer browsing and use PostScript printer description (PPD) files. In short, with CUPS you can run a printer on a Linux machine as easily as they can on a Windows machine, but with the power of Linux.

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