[ydl-gen] Printer for YDL 6.2 on a PS3

[Derick Centeno]

On Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:25:44 +0200
angelo <angelo_da_re at alice.it> wrote:

> Hello everyone, is there anyone who can suggest me an inkjet color 
> printer that is available now for which there is the YDL 6.2 driver ?  
> Maybe HP or Epson USB printer.  I  bought an Epson Stylus S20 , but it's 
> not compatible. I also had a look at CUPS, but the latest Epson driver 
> is of August 2008.  Please help me !  Thanks in advance, Angelo

Hi Angelo:

I recall that back in March (between March 10 - 12, 2010) a number of people
commented on this problem you reported.  I'm not sure that you read what was
posted back then but the general idea is that YDL as open source Linux relies
upon CUPS which collects drivers from HP, Epson and other companies which also
contribute open source version of the commercial drivers they make.

The commercial drivers prepared for Windows or the Mac OS have all the features
associated with a particular printer.  You can expect to have the printer's
scanner and other components to be fully supported within Windows or the Mac
OS.  However, it is best to be very clear and understand that under no
circumstances can you expect to have every feature supported within either x86
or ppc based Linux even though you are the same owner of the printer and that
printer is connected to the same computer.

It may be useful to keep in mind that the entire Linux market is so small that
companies find it more economical (and financially sensible) to support
Windows, and Macs.  This means that any consumer looking to have the full
functional capability of a printer available needs to be using almost
exclusively either Windows or the Mac.

CUPS, which is available for Linux, is very flexible and useful however there is
no way that the drivers available can have the features or capabilities of
drivers available for commercial operating systems.  Some open source drivers
are designed, on purpose, to allow a printer to have standard or basic printing
capability for a range of printer models sometimes across several
manufacturers. Commercial drivers are specialized for one model printer often
emphasizing the special components of that one model, maybe one or two within
one company.

Hopefully, this won't frustrate you.  You may indeed have a great printer, just
remember to use that printer within Windows if you want the full features of
that printer to be utilized.

As you are using a PS3, you could build or install (using yum) Wine or
other programs which allow you to run Windows from within YDL.  Using Wine (or
similar programs) you would have the full capabilities of the printer available
to you as the printer would believe that it was connected to a Windows
machine.  If this idea interests you, I recommend that you consult with and
become a member of the YDL Board community.  There are some really saavy and
skilled people there who could help you explore this idea and even guide you.

Implementing this idea isn't easy but it isn't impossible either.  As a project
it's an interesting means of exploiting the PS3's potential in a direction which
few take advantage of.

All the best...
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