Hi,
Writing a printer driver for a specific printer model is not very difficult.if this was true we would see many more printers supported. But we don't. Go figure.
HP: provides for free an "Appliance Printing Development Kit" (C++ source code, documentation) at http://new.hpdevelopersolutions.com/ spp/Public/Sdk/SdkPublicDownload.aspx Epson: Simple registration necessary (online registration, no nasty questions, just user name & password) to get documentation for current printer models. (http://www.epsondevelopers.com) Canon: Registration necessary (online, but takes up to 5 workdays to process. Lots of questions about your goals.), access to latest printer and camera documentation. (http://www.didp.canon-europa.com)
But there are lots of models and it won't lead us anywhere if every developer attacks a printer family/model. First we should discuss what will be part of the VDI printing system and what will be in the responsibility of each driver.
Does Linux manage colors?Linux doesn't manage colors. Linux is a kernel and doesn't care about colors at all.
:-) Very funny, I know. So if you know so much about Linux, you can tell me for sure if there is a software/system/(place here however you want to call it) *running above the Linux kernel* which manages printing accurately (=> a color management system)?
Are there any developers left who want to attack this problem? Or are working on it?More questions: is there any interest? As has just been pointed out elsewhere most developers don't weight printing too high :-)
That's also a thing I want to know. Is there any interest?If there is no interest in drivers for current devices, why the heck are some people developing a USB interface? For the mouse and keyboard???
Philipp