Re: [Printing-user-general] Why has nothing changed?

Hmmm!?

Roger

maybe you should try a current version of CUPS? I would venture to say that any
current distro, with a current version CUPS will simply work out of the box
without any configuration needs whatsoever. If you pair that with a supported
printer (there are literally hundreds of models), it should take you just a
couple of clicks to print successfully.

I am sure that the CUPS guys would welcome constructive criticism where
usability is concerned. During the last printing summit in Atlanta, usability
was a huge focus. The people that are actually working towards making printing
easier, would love to hear from you at the next printing summit...

Give it a try, you might like it

I know that Kurt Pfeifle would love to have somebody help him update his
documentation to current state-of-the-art.

regards

Uli




In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Roger
Morgan) writes:
> 
> Two years ago, Eric Raymond posted his experiences with CUPS:
> http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cups-horror.html
> in which he points out, with specific examples, that CUPS is a nightmare
> to configure.
> 
> Today, in 2006, it is obvious to anyone who looks at the forums that CUPS is
> *still* a nightmare to configure. Practically no progress has been made in 2
> years.
> 
> What needs to change is not just the unusable documentation and misleading
GUI.
> What needs to change is some attitudes.
> 
> Most people who try to configure CUPS eventually come to Kurt Pfeifle's page
on
> CUPS Troubleshooting:
> 
>
http://www.linuxprinting.org/kpfeifle/LinuxKongress2002/Tutorial/VII.cups-help/
> VII.cups-help.html
> 
> Almost everything on this page is WRONG. I don't mean technically wrong; I
mean
> that any piece of software that requires this advice, needs to be junked and
> rewritten. Examples:
> 
> Example 1:
> "Did you make sure you checked the CUPS man pages ? The most important ones
are
> those for lpadmin, lpr, lp, lpc, lpq, lpstat, cupsd.conf, lprm . At the end
of
> most man pages you might be pointed to other man pages. Go read them too."
> 
> My response:
> You mean I need to read an unspecified number of 'man' documents but at least
> *eight*, IN ADDITION to the CUPS manual, just to configure a printer? GET
OUT!!
> 
> Example 2:
> "What was the exact command you gave to install it? Example: lpadmin -p
> 1st-printer -v socket://10.160.16.102 -L "Next to my desk" (Won't work: you
> used a dash in the printer name and it doesn't start with a character, which
at
> present is "illegal" with CUPS; your socket device URL will most likely not
> work if you don't give a Port number; you forgot the "-E" parameter..."
> 
> My response:
> The response is meaningless as written, which suggests that nobody has read
it
> seriously in a couple of years. Yes, I know we all make typos, this post
> probably has a few. But mistakes in troubleshooting advice which make the
piece
> of advice incomprehensible should be weeded out.
> 
> Example 3:
> "Switch on the "debug" mode in the LogLevel directive for your CUPS daemon.
> Edit /etc/cups/cupsd.conf (....) Watch what is written to your CUPS error
log"
> 
> My response:
> Debug mode and a logfile are debugging tools for the developers. No user
should
> ever need to go near either of them. The CUPS software should be able to
figure
> out whether or not bits are getting as far as the printer. And it should be
> able to tell the user which piece of the chain is missing (if that's what's
> wrong).
> 
> Time to fork the CUPS project?