Re: [OT] Printers - was Re: Should I add this Repo?

Thanks, NoOp. Didn't think it would be so hard to put in a plug for Brother. Your note about Mario and Derek being correct is noted.

Leonard Chatagnier
lenc5570@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


--- On Mon, 10/27/08, NoOp <glgxg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: NoOp <glgxg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [OT] Printers - was Re: Should I add this Repo?
To: ubuntu-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Monday, October 27, 2008, 7:10 PM
On 10/27/2008 12:42 PM, Leonard Chatagnier wrote:
--- On Mon, 10/27/08, Derek Broughton
<news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: Derek Broughton <news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Should I
add this Repo? To: ubuntu-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Monday,
October 27, 2008, 1:41 PM Leonard Chatagnier
wrote:

Brother reqauires you to use the --force
option in
order to install their
printer drivers on Linux/Ubuntu. They have the
best
Linux/Ubuntu support
and I don't think they would tell you to
do
something that would break
anything.

Well, they would... There's _many_ force
options, but what they
all have in common is the fact that using them is
guaranteed to
break something. You just have to hope you're
never going to need
whatever has been broken. The most likely reason
why you would need
to use a "force" option in a third-party
package is because it's
trying to install a file that is already provided
in another
package - and there _are_ ways to get around that,
but using
--force-overwrite is simple (and lazy).


Hello Derek,

If something gets broken on my Hardy 64 bit,
I'll let you and the
list know. Don't know where you came up with
--force-overwrite. My
posts mentioned --force-architecture and I explained
why it was
needed. What do you Ubuntu gurus have against Brother
and there great
support for both Linux and Ubuntu of am I missing
something. I still
think Brother has great Linux/Ubuntu support and thank
NoOp for
calling it to my attention when my Epson MFP failed.
Hey, NoOp, where
are you?

I wasn't looking to add any repos so wasn't paying
any attention to the
thread overall.

Mario & Derek are correct in that Brother should simply
fix the issue so
that sudo dpkg -i --force-all --force-architecture (driver
file name)
isn't required
(http://solutions.brother.com/linux/sol/printer/linux/linux_faq-2.html#143)

I reckon that a few well placed comments to their support
department
will/can fix that.

That said, I agree very much with Leonard regarding Brother
& their
linux support; IMO overall Brother are outstanding in
providing linux
support in that:

1) they actually _do_ have working linux support staff -
who appear to
actually test their products on Ubuntu,

2) they _do_ respond to linux support questions quickly
(try to get an
Ubuntu specific question back from HP within 24 hours - or
any answer
back from Canon or Epson), and

3) like any printer manufacturer they have to grapple with
Windows,
linux, ,Mac, and and shifting/changing
distributions/updates to all of
those.

Anyone can look at the launchpad or linuxfoundation.org
databases and
easily find "paperweight" printers, even with HP.
Overall Brother seems
to do quite well for the printers that they make:

http://openprinting.org/printer_list.cgi?make=Brother
http://openprinting.org/printer_list.cgi?make=HP

(Yes I know the HP ratio is smaller, but then again look at
the number
of HP printers are listed (many of which are legacy) and
the other
columns as well)

Printers are a difficult beast to work with regardless of
the OS. The
fact of the matter is that the bulk of the drivers are
written for
Windows, multifunction features (scanning, copying, faxing
et al) add
complexity, and of course interfaces for each offer their
own challenges.
Then of course you have printer manufacturers that build
low cost
printers that are sold (or given away in system bundles)
only for the
profit that their ink consumption will bring; Epson is a
prime example
of this - their products are designed for EOL after about 1
1/2 years
(yes I can provide links) and fail to print black if even
one of their
ink cartridges is out of ink.
I did an inkjet Total Cost of Ownership comparison for a
customer a
few years back and the end result was that the customer
ended up tossing
all of their HP printers. Not only was the cost of the HP
ink exorbitant
when compared to Canon's that I selected (not a linux
friendly printer
at all by the way - this was a Windows shop), but the paper
savings
alone that had previously been spent on the paper that the
HP screwed up
on each print job paid for the new printers in six months.
The ink
savings alone paid for the new printers in three months.
BTW: this was
over three years ago & the printers are still working
just fine, plus
the cost of the ink for those printers has gone down vs the
HP ink which
has increased.

Bottom line is that I think that one can argue all day long
about
printers, linux printer support, and whatever, but viewing
the lists,
launchpad, openprinting.org, google et al reveals that
printer aren't an
easy beast to tame. Given that Brother _do_ produce high
quality
printers (in Leonard's case his has USB, wireless, and
ethernet on a
well priced multifunction) and _do_ actually actively
support linux and
quickly respond to questions re linux, Brother will
certainly be on my
list of printers next to buy.

Disclaimer: I set up a Brother multifunction printer on my
son's Ubuntu
last Christmas; at first I found some of the setup issues
confusing (see
the archives), but after figuring them out & installing
I've received
_zero_ requests for support since. This is in a household
whereby my
daughter-in-law uses Ubuntu as the primary system and
Brother printer
every day for her in-house & online business. I reckon
if Ubuntu and
Brother (print, scan, copy) can hold up to everyday in this
type of
environment (mom, kids, online business, no complaints)
then both get my
vote. On the otherhand, my brother with a WinXPHome &
an HP MF printer
calls me every few weeks regarding both his OS and his
printer...


--
ubuntu-users mailing list
ubuntu-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Modify settings or unsubscribe at:
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

--
ubuntu-users mailing list
ubuntu-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

Relevant Pages

  • Re: whats with my ink setup?
    ... What do you think those discontinued Epson printers are ... Turboprint supports last years model of Epson Professional wide ... professional printer under linux, get the 4800, problem solved. ... There is no support form USA printer mfg. ...
    (comp.periphs.printers)
  • Re: whats with my ink setup?
    ... What do you think those discontinued Epson printers are ... When a new model supersedes an existing model the mfg discontinues the ... professional printer under linux, get the 4800, problem solved. ... There is no support form USA printer mfg. ...
    (comp.periphs.printers)
  • Re: help to choose right printer to buy
    ... I faced up a girl from the 1st line support. ... Their web site boasts drivers for Linux ... The Canon support people looked at the problem and the ... final response was that "Canon printers are not supported on Linux". ...
    (Debian-User)
  • Re: Printer drivers?
    ... I've posed the question to Kodak and they wrote back "Unfortunately we have no plans of making the printers compatible with Linux." ... I have searched but have come up empty handed so far but does anybody know of a project someplace out there to write drivers to support the printer in Linux? ...
    (Fedora)
  • Re: kodak all-in-one
    ... printers with Linux. ... Kodak all-in-ones. ... The only Kodak printers in the CUPS menu on Fedora 7 are the ... Kodak to support Linux. ...
    (comp.os.linux.hardware)