I guess I periodically need to do a CUPS rant. So here it is.
system-config-printer does not really configure CUPS printers. If you
don't beleve me try to change the configuration of a printer using
system-config-printer by using the CUPS web interface (localhost:631)
or by using the actual CUPS configuration commands which are
principally lpadmin and lpoptions. It can't be done.
system-config-printer fakes CUPS printing , I suspect, through the
secret program running in the background called printconf-backend.
And if you insist on using lpd protocol rather than the CUPS ipp
protocol you are aided by the cups-lpd daemon.
system-config-printer works most of the time but when you get into shared
printers or print servers you quickly get yourself in trouble.
Configuring clients for a print-server under real CUPS is trivial. You do
nothing except put a line in the client.conf file on the client
telling it which print server you want to use.
People seem to be complaining more and more on printing failing on
their FC4 machines and if the printers were configured using
system-config-printer that may well happen.
CUPS has been the printing system in fedora for a while and in FC4 it
works as it should and therefore it should be used.
The best way to start is to configure printers using the CUPS web
interface and set the default printer using lpoptions although it
probably can also be done in the web interface.
All the documentation is available through the web interface so
finding out how it works should not be a problem.
That is my rant and I am sticking by it.
[snip]
-------------------------------------------
Aaron Konstam
Computer Science
Trinity University
telephone: (210)-999-7484
Of course you searched the list archives and found where several CUPS posters were directed to the CUPS article "Why am I no longer able to control my printing system?". Article #301 was on the front page of their web site until recently. The aritcle recommends turning off the cups-config-daemon program, "which overwrites changes to the /etc/cups/cpusd.conf file with whatever defaults they have assigned for your security configuration."
