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Sharing a printer with UNIX machines
Authored by: gvaughn on Apr 10, '03 11:36:09AM

I'd like to point out a great resource that doesn't seem to be widely known: <http://linuxprinting.org/macosx/>

It has easy to install OS X versions of printing utilities. Gimp-print is the most widely known, but I've had better luck with hpijs for HP printers.

Regarding the sharing of non-postscript printers, I just found a solution for my obscure needs a couple of weeks ago that might simplify your setup. I'm not using printer sharing, but instead doing a unix lpd (I hope that's the right name, might technically be lpr) server on my OS X box. You ought to be able to use PPD-o-matic (see below) to simplify your Debian setup.

I have an HP 5550 attached to the print server of an SMC router. With the above mentioned hpijs driver, my OS X machine printed without a hitch. However, the OS 9 machine was a bit of a problems. Desktop Printer Utility assumes PostScript printers. I used PPD-o-matic <http://www.linuxprinting.org/ppd-doc.html> to create a PPD file to use on the OS 9 machine for the HP 5550. Then I followed the instructions at <http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030121062249804> to setup an lpd daemon on my OS X machine to act as a postscript RIP on behalf of the OS 9 machine. My jaw dropped when it worked flawlessly the first time I tried to use it.



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