6 ms·

I just tested this on OS X, which doesn't expose printers through /dev/ in the way you're describing as far as I can tell. But apparently lp exists on OS X, so

by slsii 2y ago

I just tested this on OS X, which doesn't expose printers through /dev/ in the way you're describing as far as I can tell. But apparently lp exists on OS X, so you can do echo "Hello printer" | lp -d <printer_name>, and find the name through lpstat -p. And sure enough, this works! Just tested on my new printer.

blenderob 2y ago
Wow! What a delightful exchange this is! Curiosity asked and answered in 12 minutes! I literally got goosebumps on my arms as I read your comment and reached the last part where you say "this works!"
hawski 2y ago
With macOS there is this one off topic thing regarding printing that always gets me. I once had a company Macbook and it connected to my old Brother printer without problems and only then (after almost ten years of having the printer) I discovered it has double sided printing. It just worked. I always wondered if there is a way to connect somehow to this machinery to get a macOS printer driver or whatever and emulate whatever is needed for this to work on Linux.
- sangnoir 2y ago
  IIRC, Apple employed the maintainer[1] of CUPS - which is/was available on MacOS for network printing, and has been available on Linux for even longer. I would be surprised if the feature was not available on Linux for your printer. Edit: added footnote 1. The chief maintainer - not the only maintainer, between 2007-2019
  - traceroute66 2y ago
    > which is/was available on MacOS for network printing Very much IS there in the background. See http://localhost:631/printers http://localhost:631/printers on your OS X machine.
    - iknowstuff 2y ago
      Safari can’t open the page “‎localhost:631/printers” because Safari can’t connect to the server “localhost”.
    - mcculley 2y ago
      I thought the default was disabled at some point. On my macOS laptop, I get: > Web Interface is Disabled > The web interface is currently disabled. Run “cupsctl WebInterface=yes” to enable it. But I cannot remember if I disabled that.
      - traceroute66 2y ago
        > But I cannot remember if I disabled that. Its ok, you're not going mad. ;) They disabled it by default as part of security hardening a few releases back. Probably around the same time they stopped shipping PHP and other stuff. CUPS is still running the printing in the background, its just the web UI that's been disabled. IIRC.
  - hawski 2y ago
    I know about CUPS. There is no real alternative on Linux, is there? But it doesn't work like on macOS. I am sure they added some of magic on top. On macOS I think it either recognized my printer or I had to select it from a list. I don't remember which for sure. It was a few years ago. On Linux my Brother printer is not on the list. Brother offers a deb and rpm packages which may be obsolete for all I know. Then you have to install it manually. But in my case it never offered double sided printing. For years I am using a crutch in terms of Android driver and Brother's own app. This despite being offered by the producer doesn't offer double sided printing either. It doesn't even give ability to print in grayscale.
    - bch 2y ago
      > I know about CUPS. There is no real alternative on Linux, is there? I don't know what lifting "real" is doing here, but lpd(8)[0] (line printer daemon) is what we used to use, and printcap(5)[1] to configure. It was general enough that you could make a music playlist system out of it[2]. [0] https://man.netbsd.org/lpd.8 https://man.netbsd.org/lpd.8 [1] https://man.netbsd.org/printcap.5 https://man.netbsd.org/printcap.5 [2] https://patrick.wagstrom.net/weblog/2003/05/23/lpdforfunandmp3playing/ https://patrick.wagstrom.net/weblog/2003/05/23/lpdforfunandm...
    - nextos 2y ago
      Usually, drivers for similar printers might work. There are also generic driver sets like Gutenprint. Nonetheless, note that CUPS now discourages the use of any drivers, and support will be removed in the future. They claim that modern printers implement IPP and that should be the preferred protocol for printing. In IPP, printers advertise capabilities and are able to handle different high-level printing requests.
      - jorvi 2y ago
        That is wrong. CUPS recommends using the IPP protocol, but the IPP driver (called “IPP Everywhere”) is only available on relatively modern printers. Everything else still has to use drivers, mostly PPD.
  - freetanga 2y ago
    I used this (CUPS) to add my Remarkable 1 as a Printer in MacOS. Worked like a charm, nothing to install on the laptop…
    - xp84 2y ago
      Please share details! My wife has one of those, and this sounds like a great way to get more use out of it.
    - Rocka24 2y ago
      What would be the use case of this? I have a remarkable 2 and there's the official Read on Remarkable extension that automatically sends a pdf of the page you're on or the book or whatever to your Remarkable. I'm not sure if it works on Remarkable 1 but there isn't any documentation on it being unsupported. extension link: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/Read%20on%20reMarkable/bfhkfdnddlhfippjbflipboognpdpoeh https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/Read%20on%20reMarka...
- daggersandscars 2y ago
  Are you using Brother's Linux printer driver for your device? If not, I'd start there. https://support.brother.com/g/b/midlink_productcategory.aspx?c=us&lang=en&content=dl&site=pc&targetpage=17 https://support.brother.com/g/b/midlink_productcategory.aspx...
  - hawski 2y ago
    It never offered the option in my case.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - epcoa 2y ago
      If it’s a Brother, the features are in the suffix of the model name: D for duplexer, C for color, N for network (wired), W for wireless networking.
- bee_rider 2y ago
  Huh, my first thought was that it ought to be somewhat mechanically obvious if the printer supports double sided printing. But now I’m thinking, some printers do just magically suck the paper back in for the second side, right? And I’m wondering if my printer might secretly support double sided printing as well.
  - hawski 2y ago
    Exactly this magical sucking the paper back. I was amazed.
    - bee_rider 2y ago
      Mine did not. I am, therefore, non-amazed. Mazed?
      - SllX 2y ago
        Whelmed.
        MollyRealized 2y ago
        whelmed = overwhelmed https://www.ragan.com/comms-etymology-can-you-just-be-whelmed-at-work/ https://www.ragan.com/comms-etymology-can-you-just-be-whelme...
        SllX 2y ago
        Perhaps. But: "You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" https://youtu.be/UdBcnRFN4Vg https://youtu.be/UdBcnRFN4Vg Also: https://youtu.be/4u63ciF_r0g https://youtu.be/4u63ciF_r0g
        Tijdreiziger 2y ago
        https://youtube.com/shorts/Z9ifuTpljg0 https://youtube.com/shorts/Z9ifuTpljg0
sgt 2y ago
Works for me as well. This is a network printer available via WiFi.
- al_borland 2y ago
  I tried with my HP M15w, also through WiFi. Sure enough, it worked. This may be a little project for tomorrow.
account42 2y ago
The question then is, does this lp utility just feed the text directly to the printer or is it just a legacy compatibility layer that goes through the normal printing APIs to do its thing.

by slsii 2y ago

blenderob 2y ago

Wow! What a delightful exchange this is! Curiosity asked and answered in 12 minutes! I literally got goosebumps on my arms as I read your comment and reached the last part where you say "this works!"

hawski 2y ago

With macOS there is this one off topic thing regarding printing that always gets me. I once had a company Macbook and it connected to my old Brother printer without problems and only then (after almost ten years of having the printer) I discovered it has double sided printing. It just worked. I always wondered if there is a way to connect somehow to this machinery to get a macOS printer driver or whatever and emulate whatever is needed for this to work on Linux.

sangnoir 2y ago
IIRC, Apple employed the maintainer[1] of CUPS - which is/was available on MacOS for network printing, and has been available on Linux for even longer. I would be surprised if the feature was not available on Linux for your printer. Edit: added footnote 1. The chief maintainer - not the only maintainer, between 2007-2019
- traceroute66 2y ago
  > which is/was available on MacOS for network printing Very much IS there in the background. See http://localhost:631/printers http://localhost:631/printers on your OS X machine.
  - iknowstuff 2y ago
    Safari can’t open the page “‎localhost:631/printers” because Safari can’t connect to the server “localhost”.
  - mcculley 2y ago
    I thought the default was disabled at some point. On my macOS laptop, I get: > Web Interface is Disabled > The web interface is currently disabled. Run “cupsctl WebInterface=yes” to enable it. But I cannot remember if I disabled that.
    - traceroute66 2y ago
      > But I cannot remember if I disabled that. Its ok, you're not going mad. ;) They disabled it by default as part of security hardening a few releases back. Probably around the same time they stopped shipping PHP and other stuff. CUPS is still running the printing in the background, its just the web UI that's been disabled. IIRC.
- hawski 2y ago
  I know about CUPS. There is no real alternative on Linux, is there? But it doesn't work like on macOS. I am sure they added some of magic on top. On macOS I think it either recognized my printer or I had to select it from a list. I don't remember which for sure. It was a few years ago. On Linux my Brother printer is not on the list. Brother offers a deb and rpm packages which may be obsolete for all I know. Then you have to install it manually. But in my case it never offered double sided printing. For years I am using a crutch in terms of Android driver and Brother's own app. This despite being offered by the producer doesn't offer double sided printing either. It doesn't even give ability to print in grayscale.
  - bch 2y ago
    > I know about CUPS. There is no real alternative on Linux, is there? I don't know what lifting "real" is doing here, but lpd(8)[0] (line printer daemon) is what we used to use, and printcap(5)[1] to configure. It was general enough that you could make a music playlist system out of it[2]. [0] https://man.netbsd.org/lpd.8 https://man.netbsd.org/lpd.8 [1] https://man.netbsd.org/printcap.5 https://man.netbsd.org/printcap.5 [2] https://patrick.wagstrom.net/weblog/2003/05/23/lpdforfunandmp3playing/ https://patrick.wagstrom.net/weblog/2003/05/23/lpdforfunandm...
  - nextos 2y ago
    Usually, drivers for similar printers might work. There are also generic driver sets like Gutenprint. Nonetheless, note that CUPS now discourages the use of any drivers, and support will be removed in the future. They claim that modern printers implement IPP and that should be the preferred protocol for printing. In IPP, printers advertise capabilities and are able to handle different high-level printing requests.
    - jorvi 2y ago
      That is wrong. CUPS recommends using the IPP protocol, but the IPP driver (called “IPP Everywhere”) is only available on relatively modern printers. Everything else still has to use drivers, mostly PPD.
- freetanga 2y ago
  I used this (CUPS) to add my Remarkable 1 as a Printer in MacOS. Worked like a charm, nothing to install on the laptop…
  - xp84 2y ago
    Please share details! My wife has one of those, and this sounds like a great way to get more use out of it.
  - Rocka24 2y ago
    What would be the use case of this? I have a remarkable 2 and there's the official Read on Remarkable extension that automatically sends a pdf of the page you're on or the book or whatever to your Remarkable. I'm not sure if it works on Remarkable 1 but there isn't any documentation on it being unsupported. extension link: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/Read%20on%20reMarkable/bfhkfdnddlhfippjbflipboognpdpoeh https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/Read%20on%20reMarka...
daggersandscars 2y ago
Are you using Brother's Linux printer driver for your device? If not, I'd start there. https://support.brother.com/g/b/midlink_productcategory.aspx?c=us&lang=en&content=dl&site=pc&targetpage=17 https://support.brother.com/g/b/midlink_productcategory.aspx...
- hawski 2y ago
  It never offered the option in my case.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - epcoa 2y ago
    If it’s a Brother, the features are in the suffix of the model name: D for duplexer, C for color, N for network (wired), W for wireless networking.
bee_rider 2y ago
Huh, my first thought was that it ought to be somewhat mechanically obvious if the printer supports double sided printing. But now I’m thinking, some printers do just magically suck the paper back in for the second side, right? And I’m wondering if my printer might secretly support double sided printing as well.
- hawski 2y ago
  Exactly this magical sucking the paper back. I was amazed.
  - bee_rider 2y ago
    Mine did not. I am, therefore, non-amazed. Mazed?
    - SllX 2y ago
      Whelmed.
      - MollyRealized 2y ago
        whelmed = overwhelmed https://www.ragan.com/comms-etymology-can-you-just-be-whelmed-at-work/ https://www.ragan.com/comms-etymology-can-you-just-be-whelme...
        SllX 2y ago
        Perhaps. But: "You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" https://youtu.be/UdBcnRFN4Vg https://youtu.be/UdBcnRFN4Vg Also: https://youtu.be/4u63ciF_r0g https://youtu.be/4u63ciF_r0g
        Tijdreiziger 2y ago
        https://youtube.com/shorts/Z9ifuTpljg0 https://youtube.com/shorts/Z9ifuTpljg0

sgt 2y ago

Works for me as well. This is a network printer available via WiFi.

al_borland 2y ago
I tried with my HP M15w, also through WiFi. Sure enough, it worked. This may be a little project for tomorrow.

account42 2y ago

The question then is, does this lp utility just feed the text directly to the printer or is it just a legacy compatibility layer that goes through the normal printing APIs to do its thing.