Re: [SLUG] Print server

From: Backward Thinker (backwardthinker@juno.com)
Date: Wed Nov 24 2004 - 08:29:41 EST


> > Just pop it in, and boom, you're up controlling lp's and
> > USB printers. It doesn't sound to far-fetched from a
> > Linksys router/print server, right? Hmmm. Maybe I should
> > get on the drawing board. Of course, I'd have to actually
> > *learn* programming first :)
> >
> > I think there's a pretty good market out there for this.
> > Print servers, although very small in size, aren't any less
> > then $50(?). For a long time, I couldn't find them any less
> > than $100-150. A cheap 486/586 would kick butt, and the
> > spooling storage would trump any embedded solid-state device.
> > OK, I'll stop dreaming now.
>
> Actually, yeah. A LiveCD distro makes sense, now that I think
> about it. Hmm.
>
> (ponder ponder)

You'd need a good mechanism for your initial printer configuration, and writing that information to removable media so it's not lost the next time your liveCD comes up. USB/parallel/network/etc printers, what PPDs to use, configuration options, possibly quota or access controls or cover sheets, etc. etc. Plus your liveCD would need to borrow a partition for spool. And to support pre W2K versions of windows (and pre OSX macs) you are probably talking Samba, which over the past 10 months (since Feb) has produced 9 GA releases. I can definitely understand why people have opted for a real linux/unix installation rather than a liveCD for larger print environments. Most home users don't need centralized print administration anyway, they use the local spooler and print directly to the printer. All in all, I don't see this being a good fit for any audience, but maybe I lack the necessary vision for this one.

~ Daniel

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