[sf-lug] SF-LUG meeting notes for Monday 21 January 2019

[Bobbie Sellers]

On 1/24/19 7:34 PM, Rick Moen wrote:
> Quoting Bobbie Sellers (bliss-sf4ever at dslextreme.com):
>
> [stuff about Jim's difficulties, which I'm sorry to hear about]
>
>>> So, I'm confused about what 'has disappeared from CUPS recently'
>>> means.  Do you have the gutenprint package installed, or not?  What
>>> printer driver did you use to use (i.e., what does 'the printer driver
>>> for my consumer Epson 515NX' mean specifically)?
>>      Well the copy of CUPS I had at hand does not have that driver.
     Wednesday night I re-installed everything I could find to do with 
CUPS,
probably too much stuff but that is of little consequence.
     Well now the driver can be found using the PCLOS drak tools inherited
from Mandrake.  But the printer does not respond,
     I have started searching for another printer but the prices are very
high and I have not yet started looking for a used printer of the sort
I would prefer.  As you suggested I started looking for a laser
printer.
> Bobbie, hey, be here now, please:  You just ignored completely the
> question, even though you quoted it just above your reply.  Here it is
> again:
>
> Do you have the gutenprint package installed, or not?

     It shows up but the printer is not reacting to it.
>
> I really am uncertain, because I don't know a lot about PCLinuxOS, about
> how PCLinuxOS has decided to package the Gutenprint/Foomatic printer
> filters ('drivers').  Each Linux distribution does things just a bit
> differently.  So, I cannot tell you exactly what package(s) to install
> to acquire the necessary filter set -- but I _can_ ask you the crucial
> question:  Do you have the gutenprint package installed, or not?
     See above.  PCLinux is a variant or fork that started with 
Mandrake, later took images from Mandriva and
became my distribution of choice after Mandriva 2011 could not be run on 
my computer.  Well it took
me a couple of years to decide to switch over.  I tried Mageia which 
would not boot on my then
notebook a Compaq made by HP and then the Compaq's SATA stopped 
working.   So I needed another
box quickly as I had a lot more correspondence then and ended up with a 
UEFI new computer, an HP
  which died which is how I got into the used Dells.
>
> I'm not clear on why you blew off the question.  I didn't ask just for
> the finger exercise.  I was asking because it appears a vital yes/no
> question needed in order to solve your problem.

     Just tired.  Very very tired...
>
> If you don't understand a question like that, or why it's being posed,
> it's of course always appropriate to say you'd appreciate some context,
> as nobody here's expected to be an expert.  But just ignoring the
> question?  Seems kind of not even in your interest, frankly.  And just
> serves to waste time that you and I could both spend on other things.
>
>
>>      I started pricing the smaller laser printers last night but
>> the consumable seem to be high priced but then you get
>> more pages out of the refills.
> Have you considered Craigslist (used items) and Freecycle (free items)?
> Either's going to save you _a lot_ compared to new-retail, obviously,
> though there's less convenience and finding The Right Thing[tm] can take
> time.

     Oh Rick I always look at Craig's List but have not had time to get 
there yet
on this matter.  Half of my computers have come via that site.
>
>
> Yes, toner cartridges for B&W laser or (basically the same thing) LED
> printers seem pricey compared to inkjet cartridges -- until you
> guesstimate the supplies cost per page printed, at which point you
> realise what a ripoff inkjet supplies are by comparison.
>
> As a fine point, I can't prove it from facts and figures at the moment,
> but I'm pretty sure that toner cartridges for whatever laser-printer
> print engines, at any given time, are considered standard infrastructure
> printers by the corporate world are significantly cheaper per printed
> page than are laser printer cartridges in general -- on account of
> economies of scale and the effects of competition.
>
> For example, among the earliest generation of laser printers, Apple's
> early LaserWriters and HP's early LaserJets all used the same
> ultra-reliable Canon printer engine, with the result that there was a huge
> and very competitive retail market for compatible toner cartridges, and
> thus prices were low.  The next generation from HP switched to a highly
> respected Ricoh printer engine -- again feeding a good suppiles
> aftermarket.  Still later, the highly regarded mid-1990s LaserJet
> 4/4M/4+/4M+/4SI/4SIMX series used one of a couple of (again) very good
> Canon printer engines, once again insuring that supplies for the
> LaserJet 4 series has remained plentiful and cheap, even today.
>
> I can't recommend any of those _specific_ printers in 2019, so long
> after their day -- though if someone offered me a working LaserJet 4M
> for free, I wouldn't turn it down -- but I'm mentioning them to
> illustrate a broader point about the general desirability of models
> adopted as good-standard choices by serious businesses.  (I"m _not_
> talking about shlock targeted at the small office/home office or
> 'personal' markets.)

     Yes I know about the economies of scale but to live in San 
Francisco I have to
use economy of volume and have lived in the same studio apartment since
1974 when a SO suicided.  Meaning I have very little floor space left 
and doubt
I could find room for the big older printers if someone was giving them 
away.

     Tomorrow without the printer suddenly working I have to copy a letter
from the screen to paper via hand.

     Thanks for your further advice and have a pleasant weekend.

     Bobbie Sellers
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