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From: ted@mbunix.mitre.org (Ede)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: IP over Ethernet to printers  (was: Re: 7 vits vs. 8 bits (again))
Message-ID: <112616@linus.mitre.org>
Date: 6 Jul 90 13:38:36 GMT
References: <2414@acorn.co.uk> <1990Jun23.184530.1326@cbnewsl.att.com> <184@heaven.woodside.ca.us> <1363@chinacat.Unicom.COM> <1990Jun27.201333.10418@utzoo.uucp> <3439@adobe.UUCP> <268C0233.50F0@intercon.com> <1981@aurora.cs.athabascau.ca>
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In article <1981@aurora.cs.athabascau.ca> lyndon@cs.AthabascaU.CA (Lyndon Nerenberg) writes:
>amanda@mermaid.intercon.com (Amanda Walker) writes:
>
>>Now, what I think
>>would be ideal for higher-end stuff like Linos or Varitypers would be
>>to use TCP/IP over Ethernet.
>
>A great transport, but it still doesn't address the problem of what
>protocol to run over it. Since I don't want Joe_Randomn_User dumping
>jobs to the Linotron, you're going to need something that implements
>reasonable amounts of security. Hooks for job accounting would also
>be looked upon with favour.

Ahem, do you have an appletalk network anywhere?  Let's talk about
little security and no accounting.  We have a corporate appletalk with
110 zones, thousands of macs, and three linos.  Spurious jobs to the linos
really haven't been a problem.  

>If you invent a new protocol, no existing systems will speak it. Therefore
>you are pretty well stuck distributing source for the printer driver. Given
>wide variety of OSs you'll have to support, the code will have to be pretty
>damned generic.

Well, just to put in a plug for QMS, they do support printing via
TCP/IP over Ethernet with their Imagen product line.  The protocol is
fairly straightforward, and is documented.  I never bothered to code
up a print symbiont/daemon for it.  You can get one for cheap
from QMS for Un*x, cheap for VMS from Northlake software (providing
you already have IP for VMS [it supports CMU's PD product]), or free from
Columbia for VM and I think MVS.  Combined with remote lpr/lpd
capabilities, it's pretty tough not to get to one of these printers if
you really want to.  And yes, they support accounting.

No alliance here to QMS, just a relatively happy customer.

|Ted Ede -- ted@mbunix.mitre.org -- The MITRE Corporation -- Burlington Road|
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