Re: [Gimp-print-devel] What direction should we be headed?

[Michael S. <mi...@ea...>]

Hrafnkell Eiriksson wrote:
> ...
> What do you mean by filtering? And by user-space?

Filtering, meaning an application that produces PostScript output
needs to have the output filtered (RIP'd, dithered, etc.) for a
non-PS printer.  Other examples of filtering include printing
specific pages (a range and/or even/odd pages), reversing the
order of pages, etc.

> I guess its not user-space vs. kernel-space as I
> see no point in moving any printing software to the kernel.

"user-space" refers to applications that are run by the user or
as the user.  In the case of PDQ and the GIMP print plug-in, the
filtering (dithering, etc.) is done by the user with the raw print
file being sent to the underlying printing system (LPD, CUPS,
whatever)

What I'm saying is that this processing needs to happen at a
system level - not as part of the kernel (although it does get
involved for the final printing since kernel drivers talk to the
parallel, USB, IRDA, etc. ports) but as part of a standard system
service/server/daemon.

Aside from resolving certain security and accounting issues, this
type of architecture provides equal printing services to all users
and applications, and allows for distributed printing, better
management and utilization of resources, etc.  A side effect of
this is that you just need to configure the printer/driver *once*,
and all applications will then see the printer and use it based
upon the information the printing system layer provides.

[stepping up on soap box]

Basically we have a choice - turn the print plug-in into a monolithic
giant that supports hundreds or thousands of printers, rivally the
size of the main GIMP application, or develop the printer drivers
so they can be used initially from the print plug-in and then
from Ghostscript and/or CUPS to support high-quality printing from
all applications.

UNIX/Linux will not be successful without printer support.  The
current support for printers sucks.  I've been doing UNIX printer
drivers for 7 years now, and the general solution to printing is the
one that works, not writing drivers for individual applications.

-- 
______________________________________________________________________
Michael Sweet, Easy Software Products                  mi...@ea...
Printing Software for UNIX                       http://www.easysw.com