7 ms·

>But I also don't need to spend an entire weekend setting up a PC and a printer for my mom anymore either. You still have to waste a lot of time doing this cra

by magduf 7y ago

>But I also don't need to spend an entire weekend setting up a PC and a printer for my mom anymore either. You still have to waste a lot of time doing this crap. Last time I set up a printer for my mom, it was a PITA: I had to download drivers, install some giant pile of crap software, go through a bunch of screens of garbage, etc. Needless to say, her computer runs Windows 10. By contrast, when I wanted to print to that same printer with my own laptop (running Linux Mint), it was simple: there was absolutely no extra software to install, and all I had to do was go to my Settings->Printers, search for printers on the network (took a few seconds), notice that it found the (WiFi) printer, verify it was an HP and whatever model, and then it was done. Things could be much faster and simpler than they are now. They aren't, because it's not profitable for various actors for it to be, and because most users accept this. Most users are happy to have gigabytes of malware and spyware on their systems, wasting CPU cycles reporting their behavior back to Microsoft or their printer vendor or whoever, and that's a big reason things are so much slower than in 1983. So if I'm being "elitist" to point out that spyware is a bad thing, then I'll happily accept that moniker.

TremendousJudge 7y ago
Last printer I had to configure on my Linux machine required finding a downloading a hidden mystery bash script from the manufacturer's website and running it with root permissions. Not exactly "plug and play" or "safe"
- magduf 7y ago
  Then you got the wrong printer. Some manufacturers do a good job of supporting Linux (HP is probably the best actually; their drivers all ship standard in most distros), others don't bother.
  - therealdrag0 7y ago
    > Then you got the wrong printer. And so did your mom. Many printers can plug-n-play on windows.
    - magduf 7y ago
      Sure, it was "plug and play", but like every printer, it took some work: you have to download and install a driver package and software suite, because this stuff isn't included in the Windows OS. This simply isn't the case in Linux: for many printers (particularly HPs), the drivers are already there.
      - therealdrag0 7y ago
        Did you run Windows Update? Windows used to ship all drivers with the OS, but since 2018 they don't by default and instead match you in the cloud. You still might not have had to run the software suite; it might have been able to match and ship your drivers from the cloud. I'm pretty sure that M$ has a bigger driver database than linux.
  - Erlich_Bachman 7y ago
    There are absolutely others that bother, for example Brother: https://support.brother.com/g/s/id/linux/en/faq_prn.html?c=us_ot&lang=en&comple=on&redirect=on https://support.brother.com/g/s/id/linux/en/faq_prn.html?c=u...
    - ralusek 7y ago
      Brother bothers.
      - magduf 7y ago
        Yep, I have a Brother color laser; works great with Ubuntu.
  - brutt 7y ago
    I have HP LaserJet 1018 and it is pain to setup. Currently, when I will need to print, I will just turn on printer and then upload firmware manually using cat to make it work.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
    "I had some trouble with Linux on this hardware" "You chose the wrong hardware bro!" This is why people don't like Linux Evangelists.
    - magduf 7y ago
      I guess you don't like Apple evangelists either: you can't just buy some random hardware and just expect it to work on your MacBook. It only works that way on Windows because Windows has ~90% of the desktop market, so of course every hardware maker is going to make sure it works on Windows first, and anything else is a distant maybe. Would you buy an auto part without making sure first that it'll work on your year/make/model of car?
- bluGill 7y ago
  My printer says it requires that. But it works fine with the free drivers included in my package manager when I pick some other random printer model.
wazanator 7y ago
Personally I would recommend Brother every time for a printer. They're not fancy but they are well built and don't require you to install a software suite. Roommate and I are still using the same laser printer from college. It's not wireless but if we really wanted to we could attach a pi and setup a printer pool but for now a long cable serves us just fine for the few times we need to print.
- tasogare 7y ago
  I recommended it as well. I had no issue in 10 years with mine at home, and the ones at work are reliable too.
- rootbear 7y ago
  +1 on Brother printers. I'm on my second Brother laser printer and It Just Works. I also have a Canon Ink Jet that is mostly harmless. My sister's HP printer, however...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - ehsankia 7y ago
    +1, I struggled with many printers until I saw the light and finally got a Brother. I still have it a decade later and never had any issues.
  - GordonS 7y ago
    Another +1 for Brother here - I finally switched away from inkjets hell around a year ago, to a Brother laser MFD. It always worked completely as expected, zero issues. Price was good too.
- simias 7y ago
  I bought a cheap (<100euro) wifi-enabled black and white Brother laser printer a year ago and it works great.
- pilsetnieks 7y ago
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
fhood 7y ago
Today basically every piece of external hardware is compatible with pretty much every computer. Better than that, they are plug and play for the most part. Thanks for reminding me to properly appreciate this.
- BlueTemplar 7y ago
  Well, my USB 3 ports don't work because the motherboard maker can't be assed to make some Linux drivers...
pelasaco 7y ago
To print in the 80s were slower than today. In the 80s there was no Linux Mint, no laptop.
gruez 7y ago
>Last time I set up a printer for my mom, it was a PITA: I had to download drivers, install some giant pile of crap software, go through a bunch of screens of garbage, etc. Needless to say, her computer runs Windows 10. Weird. Printer drivers usually auto-install for me on Windows 10.
msla 7y ago
> So if I'm being "elitist" to point out that spyware is a bad thing, then I'll happily accept that moniker. The article isn't talking about spyware. It's a chuntering rant about "Kids these days" with no analysis of why things are the way they are. Spyware doesn't fit, because it's doing exactly what it's meant to do, and the question of whether it pisses you off is secondary at best as long as you're convinced there's no alternative to the kinds of software which bundles spyware as part of you getting what you pay for.

by magduf 7y ago

TremendousJudge 7y ago

Last printer I had to configure on my Linux machine required finding a downloading a hidden mystery bash script from the manufacturer's website and running it with root permissions. Not exactly "plug and play" or "safe"

magduf 7y ago
Then you got the wrong printer. Some manufacturers do a good job of supporting Linux (HP is probably the best actually; their drivers all ship standard in most distros), others don't bother.
- therealdrag0 7y ago
  > Then you got the wrong printer. And so did your mom. Many printers can plug-n-play on windows.
  - magduf 7y ago
    Sure, it was "plug and play", but like every printer, it took some work: you have to download and install a driver package and software suite, because this stuff isn't included in the Windows OS. This simply isn't the case in Linux: for many printers (particularly HPs), the drivers are already there.
    - therealdrag0 7y ago
      Did you run Windows Update? Windows used to ship all drivers with the OS, but since 2018 they don't by default and instead match you in the cloud. You still might not have had to run the software suite; it might have been able to match and ship your drivers from the cloud. I'm pretty sure that M$ has a bigger driver database than linux.
- Erlich_Bachman 7y ago
  There are absolutely others that bother, for example Brother: https://support.brother.com/g/s/id/linux/en/faq_prn.html?c=us_ot&lang=en&comple=on&redirect=on https://support.brother.com/g/s/id/linux/en/faq_prn.html?c=u...
  - ralusek 7y ago
    Brother bothers.
    - magduf 7y ago
      Yep, I have a Brother color laser; works great with Ubuntu.
- brutt 7y ago
  I have HP LaserJet 1018 and it is pain to setup. Currently, when I will need to print, I will just turn on printer and then upload firmware manually using cat to make it work.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
  "I had some trouble with Linux on this hardware" "You chose the wrong hardware bro!" This is why people don't like Linux Evangelists.
  - magduf 7y ago
    I guess you don't like Apple evangelists either: you can't just buy some random hardware and just expect it to work on your MacBook. It only works that way on Windows because Windows has ~90% of the desktop market, so of course every hardware maker is going to make sure it works on Windows first, and anything else is a distant maybe. Would you buy an auto part without making sure first that it'll work on your year/make/model of car?
bluGill 7y ago
My printer says it requires that. But it works fine with the free drivers included in my package manager when I pick some other random printer model.

wazanator 7y ago

Personally I would recommend Brother every time for a printer. They're not fancy but they are well built and don't require you to install a software suite. Roommate and I are still using the same laser printer from college. It's not wireless but if we really wanted to we could attach a pi and setup a printer pool but for now a long cable serves us just fine for the few times we need to print.

tasogare 7y ago
I recommended it as well. I had no issue in 10 years with mine at home, and the ones at work are reliable too.
rootbear 7y ago
+1 on Brother printers. I'm on my second Brother laser printer and It Just Works. I also have a Canon Ink Jet that is mostly harmless. My sister's HP printer, however...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- ehsankia 7y ago
  +1, I struggled with many printers until I saw the light and finally got a Brother. I still have it a decade later and never had any issues.
- GordonS 7y ago
  Another +1 for Brother here - I finally switched away from inkjets hell around a year ago, to a Brother laser MFD. It always worked completely as expected, zero issues. Price was good too.
simias 7y ago
I bought a cheap (<100euro) wifi-enabled black and white Brother laser printer a year ago and it works great.
pilsetnieks 7y ago

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

fhood 7y ago

Today basically every piece of external hardware is compatible with pretty much every computer. Better than that, they are plug and play for the most part. Thanks for reminding me to properly appreciate this.

BlueTemplar 7y ago
Well, my USB 3 ports don't work because the motherboard maker can't be assed to make some Linux drivers...

pelasaco 7y ago

To print in the 80s were slower than today. In the 80s there was no Linux Mint, no laptop.

gruez 7y ago

>Last time I set up a printer for my mom, it was a PITA: I had to download drivers, install some giant pile of crap software, go through a bunch of screens of garbage, etc. Needless to say, her computer runs Windows 10. Weird. Printer drivers usually auto-install for me on Windows 10.

msla 7y ago

> So if I'm being "elitist" to point out that spyware is a bad thing, then I'll happily accept that moniker. The article isn't talking about spyware. It's a chuntering rant about "Kids these days" with no analysis of why things are the way they are. Spyware doesn't fit, because it's doing exactly what it's meant to do, and the question of whether it pisses you off is secondary at best as long as you're convinced there's no alternative to the kinds of software which bundles spyware as part of you getting what you pay for.