[plug] Non-linux printers

[Denis Brown]

At 09:39 PM 8/05/2007, Richard Meyer wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>Just a question. Let us suppose that there is a customer who has a whole
>shedload of Dell and Lexmark printers attached to Windows servers. These
>printers do NOT have Linux drivers. Changing printers to something else
>is not an option.
>
>He wishes to start moving Linux desktops into the mix. How does he print
>from the Linux boxes? Is there a Proggie for windows that'll take
>Postscript from the Linux boxes and spew it out on the printers maybe?
>
>Any ideas gratefully received.

First thought I had is...

Printers, being mechanical devices, will sooner or later wear out.   So why 
not couple them up to some headless-as-possible Windows boxes that do 
nothing other than print spooling for those printers.

When the printers all eventually die, the Win boxes retire too.   Meantime, 
Linux-friendly printers begin their entrance to the mix.

Since you only need spooling, some of the retired Win desktops 
automatically become $0.00 print servers.   Not even any real need to keep 
them up to date with patches since they'll be firewalled off, I imagine.

HTH,
Denis