On 9 Feb, Angus Lees wrote:
> .. given that you're from canon, this should be interesting ;)
I hope so!
> any printer (or printer + software converter) that supports postscript
> is fine and happy with anything unix
>
> just get the ghostscript source and scan through devices.txt
That depends on the quality you're after. If you want photo-quality(*)
printing, you have to worry about very fine details in your driver.
Very carefully chosen error diffusion tables, half-toning, colour
conversion, and printer calibration are all required for a high quality
result.
This stuff matters enormously.
> (or was something more than being able to print required for "official
> support" ?
Mainly the above points, which all boil down to *quality*. (Printer
status monitoring and error reporting are important too, but aren't
really well handled under Unix, and aren't central to my question. In
fact, they're a distraction.)
By "official support" I mean one of two things:
1) Releasing specs for the printer commands and protocols.
2) Releasing drivers (binary or source code).
> imo (rant), you just release the specs and answer any questions that
> anyone asks - voila, you "officially support" everything that anyone
> can get to work. this "we don't support that just because we haven't
> decided to yet" is a crock. software shouldn't restrict anything that
> the hardware allows)
Sure, I agree, up to a point.(**) But Canon hasn't released their specs
you see. So I'd like some ammunition...
Here's the request, phrased as a challenge:
o Have any printer companies released all the specs required to
get the best out of their photo-quality printers?
o Have any printer companies produced Linux drivers that allow
photo-quality printing?
Evidence that other printer companies are doing either of these things
would be welcome!
Disclaimer: don't read into this email the idea that Canon is planning
to support Linux for its printers. I'm just an optimist.
Regards,
luke
* E.g. F850, not yet released in Oz.
** Video controllers allow you to focus the beam in one point,
destroying or damaging your monitor. :-)
More seriously, Canon would be concerned if crappy drivers that
produced poor quality prints from their printers existed - many users
wouldn't know enough to blame the driver rather than the printer for
the crappy quality.
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