3 ms·

I have screamed at scanners and printers not working in windows, just to plug them into linux and have them work without any interaction from my part. Unknown

by bjoli 5y ago

I have screamed at scanners and printers not working in windows, just to plug them into linux and have them work without any interaction from my part. Unknown hardware is a mixed bag, but for printers i love the feeling that they will never stop working due to incompatible drivers. Linux gave my old lexmark printer a new life when the windows driver didn't work under windows 7. I used that printer today. It is over 20 years old, but hasn't worked in any windows version released after 2009. Edit: and this shit happens to people all the time. I have set up rpi printer servers for 4 people. Proprietary drivers stink.

slt2021 5y ago
hm.. this is really strange, office equipment like printers, fax has always been developed for Windows first and foremost. Most of the times nowadays you don't really need a driver, if your printer has wifi/ethernet capability. Almost all printers with network capability work with generic drivers over TCP/IP, and windows is pretty good with identifying these. Now if you use USB, or god forbid LPT from the previous millennium - then yes, you need drivers that work with your combination of Windows version, x86/x64 version, etc, etc
- potta_coffee 5y ago
  Developed first for Windows, but abandoned once they're no longer common.
  - slt2021 5y ago
    because they are no longer needed, all printers from this millennium work perfectly fine over wifi/ethernet with generic drivers
- bjoli 5y ago
  Of course. They HAD drivers. For windows XP. Or maybe even current windows version, but the drivers are nowhere to be found today. I will never buy a network printer if USB printers are available. They suffer the usual IOT problem. In a couple of years security updates will stop showing up, and the bloody things usually try very hard to connect to the internet. Then I'd much rather roll my own with a raspberry pi running an LTS OS.
  - slt2021 5y ago
    you know it is very easy to restrict internet access for printer if you have a wifi router. Go to your router admin page and: 1. Assign static IP to a printer by its MAC address, instead of dynamic IP in DHCP settings. 2. only allow LAN traffic and disable all WAN traffic for that static IP 3. Disable Bluetooth in a printer settings (you can do it by visiting http://192.168.1.{printer's http://192.168.1.{printer's IP addr}
    - bjoli 5y ago
      To me that seems like planned obsolescence. Networking a printer using a raspberry pi (or similar) means it will stay up to date, regardless of vendor EOLing it or not. I have a printer that does wifi, but it is stuck forever at 802.11g, meaning it will degrade my wifi network and add something like a 10ms (best case) latency. I am just old-fashioned. I understand the comfort of connecting the printer to wifi and being up and running. I will probably never do it if I have the option, since I hate having to replace a printer I like. The only downside of my lexmark is that it is slow compared to modern black and white lasers. But then again it is more than half as old as I am.

by bjoli 5y ago

slt2021 5y ago

hm.. this is really strange, office equipment like printers, fax has always been developed for Windows first and foremost. Most of the times nowadays you don't really need a driver, if your printer has wifi/ethernet capability. Almost all printers with network capability work with generic drivers over TCP/IP, and windows is pretty good with identifying these. Now if you use USB, or god forbid LPT from the previous millennium - then yes, you need drivers that work with your combination of Windows version, x86/x64 version, etc, etc

potta_coffee 5y ago
Developed first for Windows, but abandoned once they're no longer common.
- slt2021 5y ago
  because they are no longer needed, all printers from this millennium work perfectly fine over wifi/ethernet with generic drivers
bjoli 5y ago
Of course. They HAD drivers. For windows XP. Or maybe even current windows version, but the drivers are nowhere to be found today. I will never buy a network printer if USB printers are available. They suffer the usual IOT problem. In a couple of years security updates will stop showing up, and the bloody things usually try very hard to connect to the internet. Then I'd much rather roll my own with a raspberry pi running an LTS OS.
- slt2021 5y ago
  you know it is very easy to restrict internet access for printer if you have a wifi router. Go to your router admin page and: 1. Assign static IP to a printer by its MAC address, instead of dynamic IP in DHCP settings. 2. only allow LAN traffic and disable all WAN traffic for that static IP 3. Disable Bluetooth in a printer settings (you can do it by visiting http://192.168.1.{printer's http://192.168.1.{printer's IP addr}
  - bjoli 5y ago
    To me that seems like planned obsolescence. Networking a printer using a raspberry pi (or similar) means it will stay up to date, regardless of vendor EOLing it or not. I have a printer that does wifi, but it is stuck forever at 802.11g, meaning it will degrade my wifi network and add something like a 10ms (best case) latency. I am just old-fashioned. I understand the comfort of connecting the printer to wifi and being up and running. I will probably never do it if I have the option, since I hate having to replace a printer I like. The only downside of my lexmark is that it is slow compared to modern black and white lasers. But then again it is more than half as old as I am.