[sf-lug] cups under Ubuntu

[Rick Moen]

[Looks like accidental departure offlist into private mail.  So:]

Quoting David Rosenstrauch (darose at darose.net):

> Well, I think it's obvious I'm not suggesting someone go and install 
> KDE, Qt, etc. just so they can use the KDE printer util.  I figured 
> everyone here was smart enough to understand that there was an implicit 
> "if you're a KDE user" caveat in front of it.

Apologies if I sounded cranky about that:  I was just really short on
time.[1]  Yes, the "if it's already present because it's a KDE
installation" would have made yours a stronger point, and I probably
should have said "that's a bit of an extreme measure putting all of that
software in _unless_ you're a KDE user."

And I'm pretty sure I recall that Alex isn't one, by the way.

> Have no idea what specific reliability issue you're referring to here. 
> I've been configuring printers via KDE for several years and never had 
> it "not work at all".

Well, the specific context is helping someone who's trying to make
printer configuration work but something mysterious is breaking.  In
such a situation, it's strongly in the user's interest to use the
simplest, least dependency-laden tools available, to reduce the number
of variables.  That happens to be one of the most important, most often
resisted lessons I try to teach people:  When you're attempting
diagnosis, simplicity and reduction of suspect count is your friend.
Additional complications and suspects -- and, in particular, adding 
larger and additional layers of software -- cause retrograde motion and
are The Wrong Thing to do.

[1]  Off-topic, but I was busy finally writing this essay:
"Kudzu and the California Marriage Amendment",
http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Essays/marriage.html