Re: A working Samsung printer made obsolete by one unsupported driver

ValdikSS <[email protected]> Thu, 6 Aug 2026 22:13:48 +0300
Newsgroups	dev.linux.lists.printing-architecture
Message-ID	<[email protected]>
Hello, this printer is supported in SpliX.

SpliX in general could be compiled and used on macOS, I'm almost certain 
that the newest macOS is also supported. However the build system is not 
tuned for macOS, and I have no idea how modern Macs work, which files go 
where, and only heard about notarization and signatures.

Here are third-party attemps, for older versions though:

  * https://github.com/janrueth/splix-2.0.0-macos
  * https://github.com/photovirus/splix-macos

This seems to be the compilation patch: 
https://github.com/photovirus/splix-macos/commit/d563adeee705660d6a426bfcac41925533d128ba

Overall, if anyone have Mac and know how to compile and install for it, 
please write the instruction and/or add compilation into SpliX's Github 
Actions file on macos builder.

Or maybe it's possible to write a homebrew file.


On 8/6/26 8:19 PM, Till Kamppeter wrote:
> Hi,
>
> thanks for your mail.
>
> I am forwarding it to our mailing list (please subscribe to it) and 
> also to our maintainers and contributors for legacy printer drivers.
>
>    Till
>
>
> On 8/6/26 17:21, [email protected] wrote:
>> Dear Mr Broussard, HP Sustainable Impact team, and OpenPrinting 
>> colleagues,
>>
>> I am writing about a small but rather telling example of avoidable 
>> electronic waste.
>>
>> My Samsung ML-2160 laser printer is mechanically sound, reliable, 
>> economical, and entirely adequate for its purpose. On my 
>> Apple-silicon Mac mini, the printer is detected correctly and print 
>> jobs are successfully spooled. However, on both macOS 26 and macOS 27 
>> Public Beta, printing then stops because the legacy Samsung print 
>> software is rejected as incompatible.
>>
>> AirPrint is not available on this model, and the printer uses 
>> Samsung’s SPL printing language rather than standard PCL or 
>> PostScript. Consequently, a perfectly functional machine has 
>> effectively been turned into electronic waste solely because a small 
>> software translation layer is no longer maintained.
>>
>> HP acquired Samsung’s printer business in 2017. I do not expect 
>> indefinite full commercial support for every legacy product. I do, 
>> however, believe that making otherwise serviceable hardware unusable 
>> through software abandonment is difficult to reconcile with HP’s 
>> stated circularity principles of extending useful product life 
>> through repair, refurbishment and reuse.
>>
>> I therefore ask HP to consider one of the following proportionate 
>> solutions:
>>
>>  1.
>>
>>     Release a signed, Apple-silicon-compatible version of the Samsung 
>> SPL print
>>     filter;
>>
>>  2.
>>
>>     Release the relevant legacy SPL driver source code and/or technical
>>     specifications under a suitable open-source licence, enabling 
>> OpenPrinting
>>     and the SpliX community to maintain it;
>>
>>  3.
>>
>>     If neither option is possible, explain what legal or technical 
>> obstacle
>>     prevents HP from cooperating with the existing open-source 
>> printing community.
>>
>> This is not merely theoretical: OpenPrinting’s SpliX project already 
>> provides support for the ML-2160 family on Linux. The necessary 
>> knowledge and developer community therefore exist; they merely need 
>> sufficient documentation, source access or cooperation from the 
>> rights holder.
>>
>> Please route this message to the teams responsible for Samsung legacy 
>> print engineering, Sustainable Impact, and open-source or 
>> intellectual-property licensing. I would appreciate a substantive 
>> response as to whether HP is willing to pursue any of these options.
>>
>> I would gladly have printed and posted this letter, but unfortunately 
>> HP’s withdrawal of software support for my otherwise functional 
>> printer prevented me from doing so.
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>> Bas Homans
>>
>>
>> The Netherlands
>>
>
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