LHS Episode #069: Our CUPS Runneth Over
In this episode of Linux in the Ham Shack, our heroes manage to stay more or less on topic, which means there might be some actual content for the listeners. Hooray for small miracles. In segment one, Richard discusses his adventure at the Texoma Hamarama in Ardmore, Oklahoma. In segment two, the boys get all Ham Geeky about hamqth.com and all the neat things one can do with it. In the third and final segment, the Linux Geeky topic is CUPS and how to making printing easier for those who wish to do it using Linux.
Introduction:
- Welcome back to another episode of LHS.
Topics:
Richard attended Texoma Hamarama at the Ardmore Convention Center in Ardmore, OK. He had a great time and describes his adventures. He took a few pictures and wrote a blog entry for the web site.
HamQTH is a callsign lookup service that is free and does not require a subscription. Russ gives his review. By registering, you can edit some of your information or use the search results in your logging program. Thanks to Ted, WA0EIR, for telling us about it.
Adventures in Printing
Richard recently installed Linux Mint on his wife’s machine as she was becoming increasingly frustrated with the speed of Windows. He did run into an issue with getting her Lexmark all-in-one printer working, which leads him to a discussion of printing in Linux.
CUPS, Common Unix Printing System, originally developed by Apple for OS X, has become the standard printing system for Linux. You can administer CUPS by pointing your web browser to https://localhost:631
Most distributions install the Foomatic driver database. Another source of drivers is Gutenprint.
If your printer is not listed specifically, you may have success using a generic PCL5, PCL6 or Postscript driver.
Also check the Linux Foundation OpenPrinting project to see how well a given printer is supported in Linux. It’s a good idea to visit this site before you buy the printer.
Most network printers will be recognized and configured automatically by CUPS.
Contact Info:
Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
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LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.
Music:
- To be added.