packaging/cups.readme

   1 README - CUPS v1.2.0b1 - 01/10/2006
   2 -----------------------------------
   3
   4 *****************************************************************
   5 *****************************************************************
   6 ****                                                         ****
   7 **** WARNING: THIS IS BETA RELEASE SOFTWARE AND MAY BE       ****
   8 ****          TOTALLY UNSTABLE.  DO NOT USE IN ENVIRONMENTS  ****
   9 ****          WHERE RELIABLE SOFTWARE IS REQUIRED!           ****
  10 ****                                                         ****
  11 *****************************************************************
  12 *****************************************************************
  13
  14 Looking for compile instructions?  Read the file "INSTALL.txt"
  15 instead...
  16
  17 *****************************************************************
  18 *****************************************************************
  19 ****                                                         ****
  20 **** IF YOU HAVE A NON-POSTSCRIPT PRINTER, YOU WILL ALSO     ****
  21 **** NEED TO INSTALL ESP GHOSTSCRIPT OR A PATCHED VERSION    ****
  22 **** OF A STANDARD GHOSTSCRIPT RELEASE.                      ****
  23 ****                                                         ****
  24 *****************************************************************
  25 *****************************************************************
  26
  27
  28 INTRODUCTION
  29
  30 CUPS provides a portable printing layer for UNIX(r)-based
  31 operating systems.  It has been developed by Easy Software
  32 Products to promote a standard printing solution for all UNIX
  33 vendors and users.  CUPS provides the System V and Berkeley
  34 command-line interfaces.
  35
  36 CUPS uses the Internet Printing Protocol ("IPP") as the basis
  37 for managing print jobs and queues.  The Line Printer Daemon
  38 ("LPD") Server Message Block ("SMB"), and AppSocket (a.k.a.
  39 JetDirect) protocols are also supported with reduced
  40 functionality.  CUPS adds network printer browsing and
  41 PostScript Printer Description ("PPD") based printing options to
  42 support real-world printing under UNIX.
  43
  44 CUPS includes an image file RIP that supports printing of image
  45 files to non-PostScript printers.  A customized version of GNU
  46 Ghostscript for CUPS called ESP Ghostscript is available
  47 separately to support printing of PostScript files within the
  48 CUPS driver framework.  Sample drivers for Dymo, EPSON, HP, and
  49 OKIDATA printers are included that use these filters.
  50
  51 Drivers for thousands of printers are provided with our ESP
  52 Print Pro software, available at:
  53
  54         http://www.easysw.com/printpro/
  55
  56 CUPS is licensed under the GNU General Public License and GNU
  57 Library General Public License.  Please contact Easy Software
  58 Products for commercial support and "binary distribution"
  59 rights.
  60
  61
  62 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
  63
  64 Binary distributions require a minimum of 10MB of free disk
  65 space. We do not recommend using CUPS on a workstation with less
  66 than 32MB of RAM or a PC with less than 16MB of RAM.
  67
  68 If you are installing from source you'll need ANSI-compliant C
  69 and C++ compilers and optionally one or more image file support
  70 libraries.  Complete source installation instructions can be
  71 found in the file "INSTALL.txt".
  72
  73
  74 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
  75
  76 The following operating system software is required to install
  77 one of the binary distributions from Easy Software Products:
  78
  79     - AIX 4.3 or higher
  80     - HP-UX 11.00 or higher
  81     - IRIX 6.5 or higher
  82     - Linux 2.4 with glibc 2.2 or higher
  83     - Solaris 7 or higher (SPARC or Intel)
  84
  85
  86 INSTALLING "PORTABLE" CUPS DISTRIBUTIONS
  87
  88 We are currently distributing "portable" CUPS binary
  89 distributions in TAR format with installation and removal
  90 scripts generated by our ESP Package Manager (EPM) software,
  91 which is available from:
  92
  93     http://www.easysw.com/epm
  94
  95 WARNING: Installing CUPS will overwrite your existing printing
  96 system. Backup files are made by the installation script and
  97 restored by the removal script, so if you experience problems
  98 you should be able to remove the CUPS software to restore your
  99 previous configuration.  However, Easy Software Products makes
 100 no warranty for this and will not be liable for any lost
 101 revenues, etc.
 102
 103 To install the CUPS software you will need to be logged in as
 104 root (doing an "su" is good enough).  Once you are the root
 105 user, run the installation script with:
 106
 107     ./cups.install ENTER
 108
 109 After asking you a few yes/no questions the CUPS software will
 110 be installed and the scheduler will be started automatically.
 111
 112
 113 INSTALLING HOST-SPECIFIC (RPM, DEBIAN, ETC.) DISTRIBUTIONS
 114
 115 The host-specific distributions use the operating system
 116 software installation tools.  To install a host-specific
 117 distribution please consult the CUPS Software Administrators
 118 Manual or your operating system documentation.
 119
 120
 121 READING THE DOCUMENTATION
 122
 123 Once you have installed the software you can access the
 124 documentation (and a bunch of other stuff) on-line at:
 125
 126     http://localhost:631
 127
 128 If you're having trouble getting that far, the documentation is
 129 located in the "/usr/share/doc/cups" directory in the binary
 130 distributions, and under the "doc" directory in the source
 131 archives.
 132
 133 Please read the documentation before asking questions.
 134
 135
 136 GETTING SUPPORT AND OTHER RESOURCES
 137
 138 If you have problems, READ THE DOCUMENTATION FIRST!  We also
 139 provide many discussion forums which are available at:
 140
 141     http://www.cups.org/newsgroups.php
 142
 143 Commercial support (with a guaranteed response time) is available
 144 from Easy Software Products.  For more information see:
 145
 146     http://www.easysw.com/cups/
 147
 148 See the CUPS web site at "http://www.cups.org/" for other site
 149 links.
 150
 151
 152 SETTING UP PRINTER QUEUES USING YOUR WEB BROWSER
 153
 154 CUPS 1.2 includes a web-based administration tool that allows you
 155 to manage printers, classes, and jobs on your server.  To access
 156 the printer administration tools open the following URL in your
 157 browser:
 158
 159     http://localhost:631/admin
 160
 161 You will be asked for the administration password (root or any
 162 other user in the sys/system/root group on your system) and then
 163 shown a menu of available functions.
 164
 165 DO NOT use the hostname for your machine - it will not work with
 166 the default CUPS configuration.  To enable administration access
 167 on other addresses, consult the CUPS Software Administrators
 168 Manual.
 169
 170
 171 SETTING UP PRINTER QUEUES FROM THE COMMAND-LINE
 172
 173 CUPS works best with PPD (PostScript Printer Description)
 174 files.  In a pinch you can also use System V style printer
 175 interface scripts.
 176
 177 Six sample PPD files are provided with this distribution that
 178 utilize the PostScript and image file RIPs and the sample EPSON
 179 and HP printer drivers.  To add the sample DeskJet driver to the
 180 system for a printer connected to the parallel port, use one of
 181 the following commands:
 182
 183     HP-UX:
 184
 185         /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/c2t0d0_lp -E
 186
 187     IRIX:
 188
 189         /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/plp -E
 190
 191     Linux:
 192
 193         /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/lp0 -E
 194         /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/lp1 -E
 195         /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/lp2 -E
 196
 197     Solaris:
 198
 199         /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/bpp0 -E
 200         /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/ecpp0 -E
 201
 202 Similarly, for the other sample drivers you can use:
 203
 204     Driver                         PPD File
 205     -----------------------------  ------------
 206     Dymo Label Printers            dymo.ppd
 207     EPSON Stylus Color Series      stcolor.ppd
 208     EPSON Stylus Photo Series      stphoto.ppd
 209     EPSON Stylus New Color Series  stcolor2.ppd
 210     EPSON Stylus New Photo Series  stphoto2.ppd
 211     EPSON 9-pin Series             epson9.ppd
 212     EPSON 24-pin Series            epson24.ppd
 213     HP DeskJet Series              deskjet.ppd
 214     HP New DeskJet Series          deskjet2.ppd
 215     HP LaserJet Series             laserjet.ppd
 216     OKIDATA 9-Pin Series           okidata9.ppd
 217     OKIDATA 24-Pin Series          okidat24.ppd
 218
 219 These sample drivers provide basic printing capabilities, but
 220 generally do not exercise the full potential of the printers or
 221 CUPS.  For commercial printer drivers check out our ESP Print
 222 Pro software at:
 223
 224     http://www.easysw.com/printpro/
 225
 226
 227 PRINTING FILES
 228
 229 CUPS provides both the System V "lp" and Berkeley "lpr" commands
 230 for printing:
 231
 232     lp filename
 233     lpr filename
 234
 235 Both the "lp" and "lpr" commands support printing options for
 236 the driver:
 237
 238     lp -omedia=A4 -oresolution=600dpi filename
 239     lpr -omedia=A4 -oresolution=600dpi filename
 240
 241 CUPS recognizes many types of images files as well as PDF,
 242 PostScript, HP-GL/2, and text files, so you can print those
 243 files directly rather than through an application.
 244
 245 If you have an application that generates output specifically
 246 for your printer then you need to use the "-oraw" or "-l"
 247 options:
 248
 249     lp -oraw filename
 250     lpr -l filename
 251
 252 This will prevent the filters from misinterpreting your print
 253 file.
 254
 255
 256 LEGAL STUFF
 257
 258 CUPS is Copyright 1993-2006 by Easy Software Products.  CUPS,
 259 the CUPS logo, and the Common UNIX Printing System are the
 260 trademark property of Easy Software Products.
 261
 262 The MD5 Digest code is Copyright 1999 Aladdin Enterprises.
 263
 264 The PDF filter (pdftops) is based on the Xpdf software,
 265 Copyright 1996-2005 by Derek B. Noonburg.
 266
 267 This software is based in part on the work of the Independent
 268 JPEG Group.
 269
 270 CUPS is provided under the terms of the GNU General Public
 271 License and GNU Library General Public License. This program is
 272 distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
 273 WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
 274 or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the "LICENSE.html",
 275 "LICENSE.txt", or "cups.license" files for more information.
 276
 277 For commercial licensing information, please contact:
 278
 279     Attn: CUPS Licensing Information
 280     Easy Software Products
 281     44141 Airport View Drive, Suite 204
 282     Hollywood, Maryland 20636 USA
 283
 284     Voice: +1.301.373.9600
 285     Email: cups-info@cups.org
 286     WWW: http://www.cups.org
 287
 288 Note that commercial licensors may also require a license from
 289 Derek B. Noonburg who developed the Xpdf software used to print
 290 PDF files.