SDB:GDI Printers

From openSUSE

Version: 1.0 -

Situation

You want to use a GDI printer (Windows-only hardware).

About GDI Printers

Printer drivers for Linux are seldom developed by the printer's manufacturer. Therefore, the printer must be accessible via a published standard protocol, like the standard printer languages PostScript, ESC/P, and HP PCL (but not HP PPA). See SDB:Purchasing a Printer and Compatibility

If the printer's manufacturer does not provide the printer with a standard printer language support but uses a proprietary protocol, this printer is a GDI printer. Such printers only work under the operating systems for which the manufacturer provides driver support.

GDI is an API developed by Microsoft. The real problem is not the API itself, but rather that GDI printers are exclusively accessible via a proprietary protocol. Therefore, GDI printers should actually be called "printers exclusively accessible via a proprietary protocol".

There is a special type of printer that "understands" rudimentary elements of a standard printer language only (i.e., those commands necessary for the output of raster graphic data). This kind of printer can sometimes be deployed in an ordinary way, since many Ghostscript drivers merely use the commands required for the output of raster graphic data. Needless to say, this procedure does not allow direct ASCII text output on the printer. However, Ghostscript is interposed by default anyway.

These printers may pose a problem if they must be previously switched to a special mode with specific control sequences. This can only be done with a specially adapted Ghostscript driver. Since this is not a standard protocol, these printers belong to the GDI printers.

Notes:

We cannot provide instructions how to set up a GDI printer, because we do not conduct tests for GDI printer drivers.

For some GDI printers there are special driver programs available in the Internet. You may find information even regarding GDI printers at the OpenPrinting workgroup of the Linux Foundation, see http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting

Often there are special limitations in GDI printer drivers. Therefore, GDI printers may not work under normal circumstances.

Often GDI printer drivers need special actions to be set up correctly. Therefore it is often not possible to set up the GDI printer with YaST2 or other printer setup tools which work in compliance to CUPS.

As we do not test GDI printers, we do not include GDI printer drivers into our products because we do not know if the GDI printer drivers would work at all.

Some GDI printer drivers need special actions to be set up or include problematic code that may cause license problems if we had those drivers in our products. We will never ever risk causing license problems for us and also for you when you would use such software where the license is unsafe only to have some kind of support for such problematic hardware.

We do not develop any GDI printer drivers because there are hundreds (in fact more than a thousand) printer models that work well for Linux. See the support database article "SDB:Purchasing a Printer and Compatibility.

Since the cost for a functional new printer is relatively low, the effort spent to set up a GDI printer with whatever special driver is probably not worth the effort. What is more, using a proper printer will solve the driver problem once and for all, as it will eliminate the need for installing and configuring special driver software and obtaining special driver updates which may be required after changes and/or new developments in the print system.