Some interesting tidbits from the Haiku world. Firstly, the WebKit port bounty has reached its target, meaning Ryan Leavengood can get to work. Secondly, Vasper has made huge strides in getting CUPS ported to Haiku. And on a funny note, BeOS icons were used in the "24" TV show.
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Member since:2005-08-18
Since BeoS (at least r5) can already use PPD's (the drivers CUPS are using) that's sort of moot in this case.
Also, you don't need drivers for IPP, you just send your docs to the IPP-capable printer.
Come to think of it, BeOS r5 had an IPP client/driver and could use PPD's so why the need for CUPS at all? It's not like anyone is seriously going to use Haiku as their company print server, which is what CUPS is mainly intended to be.
Member since:2006-02-10
Member since:2007-07-06
[CUPS]
I would like use dot-matrix printers, and you cannot do that with stock BeOS R5, nor with IPP/PPD/whatever. PPD's got used by a Anything-to-PostScript printer driver, but if your printer is not PS enabled... your're out. And that's the part that CUPS can provide, as it has "filters" that do translate "raw data" to the language your printer understands, ie. "raster2epson".
Granted, I would preffer to have those specific backend morphed into a BeOS printer addon instead, but... oh well.
[WebKit]
Great to see it comming to Haiku!
Member since:2006-03-16
Member since:2005-07-06
You are confused about what roll CUPS plays and what a PPD actually is.
CUPS isn't big. It really isn't. It is a local spooler, and it is an IPP server that allows other LAN connected hosts to use your locally connected printer. It is also a scheduler, so CUPS can drive the various stages of the print pipeline, such as Ghostscript, on it's own.
A PPD is just a "Postscript Printer Definition" file. It isn't a driver. All it does is describe the features and capabilities of the printer, but to actually drive the printer you need a print driver. The attraction of using CUPS is that you can use it with drivers such as GutenPrint and Splix.
I'm actually slightly dismayed to see that Haiku are planing to use Foomatic as part of the port. It's a horrendous hack that isn't really needed with a modern scheduler/spooler such as CUPS.
Member since:
2005-07-12
I've always been somewhat mystified why people chose to port the gigantic CUPS when all that is needed is a local print spool and an IPP client.
Drivers.