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address some functions of extremely new and fancy printers, because the open
source developers may still be working on these features. Except for the hpijs
drivers developed by HP, there are currently no printer manufacturers who develop
Linux drivers and make them available to Linux distributors under an open source
license. Most of these printers are in the medium price range.
Proprietary Printers (usually GDI printers)
Usually only one or several Windows drivers are available for proprietary printers.
These printers do not support any of the common printer languages and the printer
languages they use are subject to change when a new edition of a model is released.
See
for more information.
Before you buy a new printer, refer to the following sources to check how well the
printer you intend to buy is supported:
• http://www.linuxprinting.org/—the LinuxPrinting.org printer database
• http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/—the Ghostscript Web page
• /usr/share/doc/packages/ghostscript/catalog.devices—list
of included drivers
The online databases always show the latest Linux support status. However, a Linux
distribution can only integrate the drivers available at production time. Accordingly, a
printer currently rated as "perfectly supported" may not have had this status when the
latest SUSE® Linux Enterprise version was released. Thus, the databases may not
necessarily indicate the correct status, but only provide an approximation.
24.1 Workflow of the Printing System
The user creates a print job. The print job consists of the data to print plus information
for the spooler, such as the name of the printer or the name of the printer queue, and,
optionally, the information for the filter, such as printer-specific options.
A dedicated printer queue exists for every printer. The spooler holds the print job in
the queue until the desired printer is ready to receive data. When the printer is ready,
the spooler sends the data through the filter and back-end to the printer.
452
Installation and Administration
Section 24.7.1, "Printers without Standard Printer Language Support"
(page 467)
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Troubleshooting
