4 ms·

RMS's start of open source came with his hatred of printers. https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ch01.html https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ch01.h

by graphe 3y ago

RMS's start of open source came with his hatred of printers. https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ch01.html https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ch01.html > In true engineer-to-engineer fashion, the conversation was cordial but blunt. After briefly introducing himself as a visitor from MIT, Stallman requested a copy of the laser-printer source code so that he could port it to the PDP-11. To his surprise, the professor refused to grant his request. >"He told me that he had promised not to give me a copy," Stallman says. I don't get why people buy inkjets at all. You can get laser or CISS.

javajosh 3y ago
>I don't get why people buy inkjets at all. You can get laser or CISS. Because people don't know. They go to the store and buy the cheapest one. They don't consider ink costs, and so they end up saving $50 up front and then losing $500 over the life of the printer. The "just buy a Brother laser printer" advice is not widespread.
- BobbyTables2 3y ago
  > saving $50 up front and then losing $500 over the life of the printer Ha! Ha! Ha! Whew, that’s a good one. Let me catch my breath. I once had a mid range HP inkjet. Think it cost about $200. Only printed a few times a year. It would go through 3-4 ink cartridges per year, with me printing almost nothing. Ink was cheap, about $30. Pretty much needed a new ink cartridge every time I printed. Was a networked printer, didn’t even see the computer reboot, etc. That damn thing easily cost over $100/year doing nothing. Would have lasted forever if I hadn’t thrown it away in mint condition. Eventually got a laser printer… Toner is expensive, but it at least doesn’t evaporate! (I lowered calibration frequency settings too)
- pjmlp 3y ago
  For some laser models the toner cartridges are almost as expensive as a laser, hardly anyone would go for them other than business users.
bayindirh 3y ago
> I don't get why people buy inkjets at all. You can get laser or CISS. Because not all inkjets are crap. I have an HP Deskjet 4515 Ink Advantage. This thing doesn't dry out, prints out beautiful text and photos. Even though the color inks are not pigment, they do not fade out in 5 years. The inks are cheap, last a long time, and that thing works with everything from macOS to CUPS to driverless (AirPrint, Driverless CUPS, etc.). Bottom of the barrel printers are always bad, regardless of technology. What you want is high-end home, or entry level SoHo printers with proper network support, replaceable rollers (in lasers) and good firmware. These devices are not cheap, and most of them are not sold with razor and blades model. You pay a good money for the hardware, and that thing lives on for more than a decade with top notch reliability. I'd buy original cartridges to my printers everyday, because a good printer is worthy of the investment, and there's something called ink/toner quality. It's not colored water (or simple black dust) to begin with. These companies do not have ink/toner labs for no reason.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  Given what HP is saying about how they want the printer business to operate, I think it's too risky to buy any HP printer at all.
thiht 3y ago
I have a Brother inkjet and it’s great, it has never failed me and it works flawlessly every single time.

by graphe 3y ago

javajosh 3y ago

>I don't get why people buy inkjets at all. You can get laser or CISS. Because people don't know. They go to the store and buy the cheapest one. They don't consider ink costs, and so they end up saving $50 up front and then losing $500 over the life of the printer. The "just buy a Brother laser printer" advice is not widespread.

BobbyTables2 3y ago
> saving $50 up front and then losing $500 over the life of the printer Ha! Ha! Ha! Whew, that’s a good one. Let me catch my breath. I once had a mid range HP inkjet. Think it cost about $200. Only printed a few times a year. It would go through 3-4 ink cartridges per year, with me printing almost nothing. Ink was cheap, about $30. Pretty much needed a new ink cartridge every time I printed. Was a networked printer, didn’t even see the computer reboot, etc. That damn thing easily cost over $100/year doing nothing. Would have lasted forever if I hadn’t thrown it away in mint condition. Eventually got a laser printer… Toner is expensive, but it at least doesn’t evaporate! (I lowered calibration frequency settings too)
pjmlp 3y ago
For some laser models the toner cartridges are almost as expensive as a laser, hardly anyone would go for them other than business users.

bayindirh 3y ago

> I don't get why people buy inkjets at all. You can get laser or CISS. Because not all inkjets are crap. I have an HP Deskjet 4515 Ink Advantage. This thing doesn't dry out, prints out beautiful text and photos. Even though the color inks are not pigment, they do not fade out in 5 years. The inks are cheap, last a long time, and that thing works with everything from macOS to CUPS to driverless (AirPrint, Driverless CUPS, etc.). Bottom of the barrel printers are always bad, regardless of technology. What you want is high-end home, or entry level SoHo printers with proper network support, replaceable rollers (in lasers) and good firmware. These devices are not cheap, and most of them are not sold with razor and blades model. You pay a good money for the hardware, and that thing lives on for more than a decade with top notch reliability. I'd buy original cartridges to my printers everyday, because a good printer is worthy of the investment, and there's something called ink/toner quality. It's not colored water (or simple black dust) to begin with. These companies do not have ink/toner labs for no reason.

JohnFen 3y ago
Given what HP is saying about how they want the printer business to operate, I think it's too risky to buy any HP printer at all.

thiht 3y ago

I have a Brother inkjet and it’s great, it has never failed me and it works flawlessly every single time.