On Sat 09 Apr 2022 at 08:33:31 +0200, to...@tuxteam.de wrote: > On Fri, Apr 08, 2022 at 08:52:26PM +0100, Brian wrote: > > [...] > > > You didn't like my bus analogy, did you? > > I did like it. Nevertheless, I thought something's missing:
In general, analogies don't really work, do they? > > What makes you think that knowing a bus number and destination > > provudes information for where it departs from? > > > > What makes you think that knowing an IP address tells you where > > any machine of any description is located? > > This is, of course, not guaranteed. But "the system" might provide > for the user not being an idiot and perhaps having bits of info > "the system" doesn't. > > In Greg's (was he the OP? I lost the thread in the process) case > it's the IP address stuck on the printer (most printers these days > tell you, if you ticke their menus for long enough, BTW). Setting up a queue in some circumstances may require knowledge of an IP address. Printing to it doesn't. The wrong path was taken. > In the bus's case, perhaps there is a big sign on the parking lot > "NEUF-BRISACH". There, that's your IP address. > > Back to the printers, I'm horrified at the idea that CUPS doesn't > tell you the IP address it thinks the printer is at. It's what > I call "authoritarian software", where the software thinks it's > smarter than me. Don't get me wrong, I like comfort like the next > guy, but I don't like being treated like an idiot. What is important for printing is the queue name (the destination) an the URI. Cups will take care of all the nitty-gritty in getting the job to the printer. A card with the queue name would have saved much head scratching. > Look: if some programmer gal thinks she's smarter than me, I go > "arrogant gal, but who knows, probably she's right". But if a > piece of software does that, I tend to kick it out of my box. > My box, my rules :) > > And yes: no CUPS (no Avahi either) on my box :-) Avahi is not mandatory for printing. However, it does benefit many users. Plug in a mouse. It wors straightaway. Nobody gives it a secomd thought. Nowadays, plug in a modern printer to USB and, with Avahi, it is immediately available for printing. What is there to dislike? People have been asking for this level of operation for years. -- Brian.