On Fri 14 Sep 2018 at 20:29:22 +0100, Brian Potkin wrote: > eOn Mon 10 Sep 2018 at 15:16:44 +0100, Brian Potkin wrote: > > > Package: cups-browsed > > Version: 1.21.2-1 > > Severity: wishlist > > > > > > With the introduction of cups 1.6.x the situation in respect to printing > > to remote print queues and printers would have been dire without the > > creation of cups-browsed. However, cups 2.2.4 and later has the ability > > (CUPS Issue #4993) to enumerate queues and printers in print dialogs and > > to auto-create a temporary print queue. This is used by applications > > having the Qt dialog and printing from the command line, although the > > GTK dialog still does its own thing. > > Enumeration of queues/printers in GTK apps depends neither on CUPS nor > cups-browsed. A user printing only from GTK apps gains nothing in basic > printing terms from cups-browsed, even if the cups service is operative. > > > cups-browsed is installed by default because cups-daemon (quite rightly) > > recommends it. With the changed situation in CUPS and applications it > > would appear that cups-browsed has less relevance with regard to printer > > and print queue discovery and management. The Recommends field lists > > packages that would be found with the cups package because there is a > > strong dependency between it and cups-browsed. cups-browsed would still > > enhance cups if changed to a Suggests:. > > A rough characterisation of a recommended package: OMG! cups-browsed > isn't on the system; I cannot do these fundamental and useful things. > > "fundamental" and "useful" are arguable, of course, but the ability > of cups-browsed to alter what a GTK app shows would be under the > heading of "Enhances". > > > The installation of cups-browsed almost as a matter of course on many > > buster systems also masks bugs in CUPS and applications, as it will take > > over the management of queues/printers. A small example is CUPS Issue > > #5045. Another example is with okular. For me, it will not print to a > > temporary queue; with a local cups-browsed queue it will. This would > > probably pass unnoticed as things stand now. > > A compromise. Reduce cups-browsed to a Suggests: from now until nearly > the end of the freeze. Give CUPS a better chance to show what it is > capable of without cups-browsed. Return cups-browsed to a Recommends: > before the freeze end if it is indicated. As it stands at present, CUPS > is crippled. > > I suppose a major consideration for Debian 10 is to consider what > harm not having cups-browsed as a Recommends: does; it is basically > a printer setup utility like s.c.p. Nobody gets upset when that is > not automatically on the system.
From https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-relationships.html > Recommends > This declares a strong, but not absolute, dependency. > > The Recommends field should list packages that would be found > together with this one in all but unusual installations Upstream says at http://ftp.pwg.org/pub/pwg/liaison/openprinting/minutes/OP-Minutes-20170606.htm > - cups-browsed development will continue, as an add-on for more sophisticated configurations, especially in enterprise networks. > - cups-browsed will provide the following enhancements against a pure CUPS/print dialog setup: > o Legacy CUPS server (1.5.x and older) interoperability > o Interoperability with old print dialogs (which do not use cupsEnumDests() and new CUPS API) > o Load balancing of clustered remote CUPS queues > o Support for legacy (IPP 1.x) IPP network printers > o Support for new driverless printing technologies not yet supported by CUPS (like PCLm) > o Fine-grained filtering of which remote printers are available I'd suggest the first four objectives do not promote cups-browsed being a strong dependency. The last one appears to be unworkable with QT apps and Libreoffice.