On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 22:17:09 -0800 Bill Wohler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Can someone please explain why we need xprint? Yeah, I'm frustrated > that a recent update broke my printing, but I'm using Sarge so I > accept change. In this case, I don't understand it. > > Xprint seems to duplicate some of what we already have. Is it supposed > to be the new, shiny car on the block to replace the old Edsel, much > as CUPS replaced the Berkeley print systems of yore. > > For example, I've got CUPS for spooling, foomatic to create the ppd > files, hpijs for the HP print drivers, and hpoj to talk to them. How > does xprint fit in? Does it replace any of this? > > I certainly can't answer these questions myself. Here's why. > > If I choose the Default printer from the Galeon print dialog (thanks > arodriguez31), it seems to bypass xprint and go straight to CUPS, so > xprint seems to be a replacement for CUPS. But bug 280159 talks about > changing the default resolution but this stuff is in the PPD files so > now xprint seems like a replacement for foomatic (although it seems to > me that this is the job of hpijs in any case). Maybe it replaces both > CUPS and foomatic? > > Anyway, if someone could explain or point me to a document or thread > (which I couldn't find) that explains why we need xprint, how it fits > in, and what programs it replaces, I'd appreciate it. > > I'm probably not alone ;-). Actually, my understanding is that it was supposed to replace some of the code in programs like your e-mail client and web-browser, _not_ the printing system like hpijs, hpoj, cups, etc. The idea was that programs wouldn't have to know how to print postscript - instead they would talk in some format to xprt which would then convert it into a form the cups drivers could understand. It was debated that this improved security - though I never saw the argument hold much water. If you google with site:debian.org and some search terms of xprt and firefox, you should be able to find a long thread that took place earlier this year. The Postscript/default option in Firefox was disabled, due to the supposed security reasons - and later re-enabled. In short though, I pretty much agree with the people that say xprt isn't needed. I definitely found it to be a lot more trouble than benefit - especially since my printing setup was working great before xprt came along. HTH, Jacob -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]