Timeline for Why didn't PostScript eliminate the need for printer drivers?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 30, 2019 at 21:24 | comment | added | Glen Yates | Wait, I thought it did eliminate the need for printer drivers? At least distinct drivers apart from the default system postscript printer driver. And then specific capabilities (such as page size, dpi, etc) were exposed through PPD (Postscript Printer Definition) files. | |
| Jan 30, 2019 at 13:26 | comment | added | Stephen Kitt | Incidentally, there are now a large number of printers which support “driverless” operation; see wiki.debian.org/DriverlessPrinting for details (and no, this isn’t specific to Debian). | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 21:32 | answer | added | Maury Markowitz | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 21:09 | answer | added | supercat | timeline score: 9 | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 18:10 | comment | added | Barmar | There's more to printing than just rendering the document. How about things like 2-sided printing? You need the driver to tell you whether the device even has that capability. | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 15:50 | comment | added | tofro | Keep in mind that, when PostScript started to evolve, a printer capable of interpreting PS had to have CPU and memory at least at par with the workstation connected: Connecting a Macintosh to an Apple LaserWriter in the early 80s meant you had more memory and a faster CPU in the printer than in the computer... | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 15:18 | vote | accept | rwallace | ||
| Jan 21, 2019 at 13:49 | comment | added | Luaan | The point of PostScript is to make document manipulating applications cheaper and more compatible. The translation from (cheap) application PostScript output to (cheap) printer is done in the driver. PostScript made printer drivers even more important than before, while vastly simplifying printing from applications. There's a lot more applications that support printing than printer drivers. Drivers are a lot cheaper than "a 50 cent chip in each printer". | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 13:49 | answer | added | Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen | timeline score: 13 | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 13:44 | comment | added | Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen | PostScript was quite demanding. In the early days a PostScript printer might well be the most powerful computer in the building, hence expensive. | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 13:34 | answer | added | nekomatic | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 10:40 | answer | added | Raffzahn | timeline score: 22 | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 10:20 | answer | added | user | timeline score: 4 | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 7:23 | comment | added | UncleBod | There are still printers around that doesn't talk Postscript. They use the printer driver as a translator to whatever they talk. | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 5:08 | answer | added | manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact | timeline score: 15 | |
| Jan 21, 2019 at 4:47 | history | asked | rwallace | CC BY-SA 4.0 |