On Fri, 19 Feb 2016, li...@wrant.com wrote:
Well, let me say my opinion.
Why ?!
I think, you missed the context of my two postings of yesterday.
I do not see any problem with lpr/lpd, the only reason given here to
change it is:
* lpd(8)/lpc(8)/lpr(1) is very old and suffering from bitrot.
<<
(https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&m=145376186932234&w=2)
People had to defend lpd/lpr supporting their printer after the
following question was stated:
Is anyone still using a printer connected to a serial port or is that now
removable?
<<
(https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&m=145377943204026&w=2)
Later, we read:
I do see that lpc, lpq, lprm are dinosaurs and have to be made extinct
and replaced with something more functional with more information output
and better capabilities.
<<
(https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&m=145573157323762&w=2)
Then came the first question that I answered:
Anyway, just some musings. Is there anyone else out there using
lpr/lpd/lprm from base? Maybe I'm the only one?
<<
(https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&m=145577346702071&w=2)
And then I reduced ad absurdum the following argument against lpd/lpr:
No really, it [lpd/lpr] is outdated beyond rescue. If you want to write a new
print job queueing system, sure, have fun. Maybe you can come up with a
'cups' that doesn't suck?
<<
Again: if lpd is outdated without rescue and must be replaced with a
non sucking cups, then bsd/unix is also outdated without rescue and
must be replaced with a new, non sucking operating system.
Under this logic, "lpd/lpr" may be deleted from base, and also obsolete
programs like "mt" that no one use (I did use it not long ago).
But inspite of the bad argument, the alternative is indeed to offer
a completely new (perhaps non standard?) print job queueing system
to make some people happy (and leave lpd/lpr where it is).
About a month ago I tried to install "xscanimage" in OpenBSD 5.8
from the package collections, without success. This is the explanation
given in CVS:
Remove sane-frontends; upstream hasn't put out a new release in >8 years
and Xsane is the de-facto SANE frontend nowadays.
<<
(http://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/ports/graphics/sane-frontends/)
Of course, the bloated Xsane is not a replacement of the meager xscanimage.
In spite of all irony in my postings of yesterday, I do believe that
plan9 is, at least in some concepts, superior to Unix/BSD, but it is not a
standard.
There are good reasons to use a standard like Unix/BSD, and that is one of the
reasons I use OpenBSD, but there may be also reasons to use something else,
for example an innovative, experimental system like Plan9 or a comercial
real time system. All depends on what you want to do with the computer,
and security in the internet is not necessary a priority: I moved from
FreeBSD to OpenBSD only because the wlan driver in OpenBSD seems to work
better.
Rodrigo.
