Re: [gentoo-user] Picking out a printer. Questions.

[Manuel McLure]

On Sat, Apr 20, 2019 at 7:59 PM Dale  wrote:

> Manuel McLure wrote:
>
> On Sat, Apr 20, 2019 at 7:12 PM Dale  wrote:
>
>> Howdy,
>>
>> I'm looking at printers.  ...  This is the model.
>> Brother HL-L3270CDW
>>
>
> Looking at the specs for that Brother printer (I don't know why you linked
> to the openprinting.org page for a Lexmark printer) it seems to have the
> most important aspect for Linux compatibility - PCL6 emulation (PostScript
> would also work, but you want to avoid anything that doesn't have one of
> those two). It also has normal port 9100 network connectivity, so it should
> work just fine under Linux for B/W. I can't find anything in the
> Openprinting database for that specific Brother printer, some of the other
> entries for Brother printers say you need a proprietary driver to get color
> out of them. The entry for the *HL-3170* says it works perfectly but gives
> no details. So I'd be a little wary going in.
>
> As for duty cycle, 30,000 pages/month is the same that my old
> built-like-a-tank HP Laserjet 4Mp had, so I wouldn't worry about it. Note
> that the printer is going to come with "starter cartridges" that are only
> good for about 1000 pages, and that the drum is also a consumable that
> needs replacing after 18,000 pages. But 18,000 pages is a lot.
> --
> Manuel A. McLure WW1FA  
> ...for in Ulthar, according to an ancient and significant law,
> no man may kill a cat.   -- H.P. Lovecraft
>
>
>
> I think I linked to the wrong page.  I was looking up a lot of printers
> and must have got it mixed up.  Makes me wonder if I picked the wrong
> printer too.  LOL  You are correct tho, it isn't listed.  Time to find
> another printer.
>
> Knowing about the PCL6 part will help.  I didn't know that would be
> important.  Also, I'd rather have one that I can install with CUPS and its
> drivers or HPLIP. It's been a while since I've had a printer and switching
> to laser is something that is new territory as well.
>
> Question.  I see some that are regular laser printers.  Then I see some
> that are laser jet.  Looking up the cartridges it seems to use toner.
> Another reason I want toner based is that if a page gets wet or damp, the
> toner doesn't run like most ink jet printers do.  Am I correct that a laser
> or a laser jet would serve that purpose the same?  It seems it just uses a
> different method to put the toner on the page or something.  I googled and
> what little I found sort of makes me think that would be fine.
>
> I'm open to ideas on this.  I've always bought HP in the past but as long
> as it prints fine with either HPLIP or CUPS, I'm fine with it.  Brother
> would be fine, Lexmark to if it works.  I know some printers are more Linux
> friendly than others.  I honestly wish I could find a used printer locally
> but not sure how to do that around here.
>
> Thanks much for the info.  Me makes note to check that PCL6 in the
> future.  ;-)
>
>
Don't worry about laser vs. Laserjet. "Laserjet" is just HP's name for
their laser printer line. So all HP laser printers are called "Laserjet"
but they're just the same as any other laser printer.

There are actually two ways a "laser" printer can create an image: it can
use a laser (duh) or it can use an array of very small LEDs (mostly Okidata
printers). From a user's perspective, they're both the same. The important
bit is that they project that light onto a photosensitive drum that picks
up toner particles and transfers them to paper, where they get heated and
fused into the paper fibers. This is much the same way photocopiers used to
work (nowadays most photocopiers are just a scanner attached to a laser
printer).

The important bit is the language the printer speaks. There are two main
languages spoken by laser printers: PCL and PostScript. Both are
technically proprietary (PCL is from HP, PostScript is from Adobe) but
there are a lot of printers that emulate these languages. You want to run
far and fast from any printer that supports neither of these languages -
those are generally known as Winprinters and require special drivers.
PostScript is the more "UNIX-compatible" of the two - many programs on
UNIX/Linux will generate PostScript and pass that to CUPS. If the printer
supports PostScript, CUPS can pass the print file straight to the printer,
otherwise it needs to use Ghostscript to convert the Postscript input into
whatever the destination printer supports. Because so many laser printers
either include true PCL (i.e. HP printers) or emulate PCL (like that
Brother) the support for PCL in CUPS is very good. However, I have only
used Ghostscript->PCL with black and white. I don't know exactly what
issues there might be with color support, so I can't help much there.

That Lexmark looks excellent on the compatibility front - it has both PCL6
_and_ Postscript as well as standard port 9100 connectivity. It's only
rated for 5000 pages a month, but that's still plenty for home use.

Hope 

Re: [gentoo-user] Picking out a printer. Questions.

[Dale]

Manuel McLure wrote:
> On Sat, Apr 20, 2019 at 7:12 PM Dale  > wrote:
>
> Howdy,
>
> I'm looking at printers.  ...  This is the model. 
> Brother HL-L3270CDW
>
>
> Looking at the specs for that Brother printer (I don't know why you
> linked to the openprinting.org  page for a
> Lexmark printer) it seems to have the most important aspect for Linux
> compatibility - PCL6 emulation (PostScript would also work, but you
> want to avoid anything that doesn't have one of those two). It also
> has normal port 9100 network connectivity, so it should work just fine
> under Linux for B/W. I can't find anything in the Openprinting
> database for that specific Brother printer, some of the other entries
> for Brother printers say you need a proprietary driver to get color
> out of them. The entry for the *HL-3170* says it works perfectly but
> gives no details. So I'd be a little wary going in.
>
> As for duty cycle, 30,000 pages/month is the same that my old
> built-like-a-tank HP Laserjet 4Mp had, so I wouldn't worry about it.
> Note that the printer is going to come with "starter cartridges" that
> are only good for about 1000 pages, and that the drum is also a
> consumable that needs replacing after 18,000 pages. But 18,000 pages
> is a lot.
> -- 
> Manuel A. McLure WW1FA mailto:man...@mclure.org>>
> 
> ...for in Ulthar, according to an ancient and significant law,
> no man may kill a cat.                       -- H.P. Lovecraft


I think I linked to the wrong page.  I was looking up a lot of printers
and must have got it mixed up.  Makes me wonder if I picked the wrong
printer too.  LOL  You are correct tho, it isn't listed.  Time to find
another printer. 

Knowing about the PCL6 part will help.  I didn't know that would be
important.  Also, I'd rather have one that I can install with CUPS and
its drivers or HPLIP. It's been a while since I've had a printer and
switching to laser is something that is new territory as well. 

Question.  I see some that are regular laser printers.  Then I see some
that are laser jet.  Looking up the cartridges it seems to use toner. 
Another reason I want toner based is that if a page gets wet or damp,
the toner doesn't run like most ink jet printers do.  Am I correct that
a laser or a laser jet would serve that purpose the same?  It seems it
just uses a different method to put the toner on the page or something. 
I googled and what little I found sort of makes me think that would be
fine. 

I'm open to ideas on this.  I've always bought HP in the past but as
long as it prints fine with either HPLIP or CUPS, I'm fine with it. 
Brother would be fine, Lexmark to if it works.  I know some printers are
more Linux friendly than others.  I honestly wish I could find a used
printer locally but not sure how to do that around here. 

Thanks much for the info.  Me makes note to check that PCL6 in the
future.  ;-)

Dale

:-)  :-) 

Re: [gentoo-user] Picking out a printer. Questions.

[Manuel McLure]

On Sat, Apr 20, 2019 at 7:12 PM Dale  wrote:

> Howdy,
>
> I'm looking at printers.  ...  This is the model.
> Brother HL-L3270CDW
>

Looking at the specs for that Brother printer (I don't know why you linked
to the openprinting.org page for a Lexmark printer) it seems to have the
most important aspect for Linux compatibility - PCL6 emulation (PostScript
would also work, but you want to avoid anything that doesn't have one of
those two). It also has normal port 9100 network connectivity, so it should
work just fine under Linux for B/W. I can't find anything in the
Openprinting database for that specific Brother printer, some of the other
entries for Brother printers say you need a proprietary driver to get color
out of them. The entry for the *HL-3170* says it works perfectly but gives
no details. So I'd be a little wary going in.

As for duty cycle, 30,000 pages/month is the same that my old
built-like-a-tank HP Laserjet 4Mp had, so I wouldn't worry about it. Note
that the printer is going to come with "starter cartridges" that are only
good for about 1000 pages, and that the drum is also a consumable that
needs replacing after 18,000 pages. But 18,000 pages is a lot.
-- 
Manuel A. McLure WW1FA  
...for in Ulthar, according to an ancient and significant law,
no man may kill a cat.   -- H.P. Lovecraft

[gentoo-user] >=sys-apps/texinfo-6.5: free(): invalid pointer

[andrey . vul]

Hi, folks.

When texinfo tries to run to process the texinfo files as part of the
compile step, perl appears to die with free(): invalid pointer.

build.log: http://dpaste.com/2Z0K93S
emerge --info: http://dpaste.com/1KD9J3R

- AV

[gentoo-user] Picking out a printer. Questions.

[Dale]

Howdy,

I'm looking at printers.  I been wanting a toner based printer for a
LONG time now.  I'm so tired of those poorly made ink jet things that
don't last long at all.  I've found one so far.  According to the
printer support website, Linux supports it.  [1]  The site says this: 
"Color printer, works Perfectly".  Sounds good.  This is the model. 
Brother HL-L3270CDW  Now I googled some, which can be dangerous at
times, and not sure this is a printer I want.  It seems to be light duty
and I suspect when I first get this thing, I'm going to be printing a
LOT of stuff.  According to a spec sheet on the cartridge, it does about
3,000 pages for black and 2,300 for color.  Should I try to find a
printer that does more than this or is that about the norm? 

I did some searching on duty cycles and such.  This one shows this: 
Duty Cycle: Up to 30,000  Would that be OK for a printer for home use,
likely heavy use the first couple months?  What sort of life should I
expect from this type of printer? 

Any insight on this would be nice.  As some know, I'm on fixed income so
I'd like to get a printer that can handle my needs and not be breaking
to much.  I wouldn't mind having cartridges that can either be refilled
or are affordable too.  Sometimes just a few dollars more can get you a
lot more printing.  BTW, I don't need one that scans or anything.  I
have a scanner already.  If there is one that is a really dependable one
that has a scanner, I wouldn't pass it up just for that but it isn't
needed.  Mostly, I just want a printer that is economical and dependable. 

Thanks much. 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

1: https://www.openprinting.org/printer/Lexmark/Lexmark-C2325dw

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Incorrect list of groups membership

[Mickaël Bucas]

Hi

I've opened issue #1159 on SDDM Github [1], with a patch that makes
better use of "initgroups" and "pam_setcreds", I hope.

@Remy Blank if you could try the patch and comment on the issue, that
may help SDDM project members to evaluate it.

Thanks

Best regards
Mickaël Bucas

[1] https://github.com/sddm/sddm/issues/1159

Le ven. 19 avr. 2019 à 00:34, Mickaël Bucas  a écrit :
>
> Le lun. 15 avr. 2019 à 20:26, Remy Blank  a écrit :
> >
> > > After a reboot, the problem disappears for a while, but comes again,
> > > and I didn't find what could trigger it.
> > > I can't figure what KDE could have to do with user groups returned by
> > > the kernel !
> > >
> > > Does anyone have a hint on the origin of this problem ?
> >
> > Yes, this is triggered by restarting the xdm service, possibly limited
> > to sddm users.
> >
> > I have noticed the same issue here. Groups are correct after a reboot,
> > but if I do:
> >
> > $ /etc/init.d/xdm restart
> >
> > and log into KDE, then I'm a member of all sorts of system groups. I'm
> > using sddm, maybe it happens with other login managers as well.
> >
> > I suspect that this is due to inheriting the supplementary groups of
> > which "root" is a member at the time the login manager is started. At
> > boot time, it is a member of no additional groups, whereas in a root
> > shell, it is:
> >
> > # groups
> > root bin daemon sys adm disk wheel floppy dialout tape video
> >
> > I suspect this is a bug in sddm, or maybe in pam. It should drop all
> > supplementary groups before switching to the user logging in.
> >
> > As a workaround, I now always reboot instead of restarting xdm.
> >
> > -- Remy
>
> Thanks for pointing me to SDDM. After looking at the source code [1]
> that prepares the user session I think it's not correct.
> The main problem is that it doesn't call "initgroups" when PAM is
> enabled. This function is the one that loads the list of local groups
> for the user.
> PAM functions should be called afterwards to load additional groups
> with for example pam_group.so, according to man pam_setcred(3)
>
> This is confirmed by looking at the code of XDM for the same action,
> which calls "initgroups" in all cases [2].
> I found this piece of code interesting with for example :
> # if defined(BSD) && (BSD >= 199103)
> So it seems it's been around for a really long time !
>
> I also found issue 416 on SDDM [3] on Github that seems to be the same
> problem, but it has been closed, with a dubious explanation that this
> would be caused by KDE kinit.
> I don't believe it because KDE processes are launched with the user
> session id, and therefore shouldn't be able to add system groups to
> the session.
> And if I look at the groups of sddm-greeter when it's running under
> user "sddm", they are already incorrect before a KDE session is
> opened.
> mick@xxx ~ $ grep Groups /proc/$(pidof sddm-greeter)/status
> Groups: 0 1 2 3 4 6 10 11 26 27 27 243
>
> I will try to modify SDDM code to include "initgroups" where I suppose
> it should be called.
> This could result in a new bug or a pull request depending on the results...
>
> Best regards
> Mickaël Bucas
>
> [1] https://github.com/sddm/sddm/blob/develop/src/helper/UserSession.cpp
> [2] https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/app/xdm/blob/master/xdm/session.c
> [3] https://github.com/sddm/sddm/issues/416