August 2004 - WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Re: [Wlug] Linux Photo Printer recommendations

by Robert L Krawitz

Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 15:45:04 -0400 (EDT) From: "Peter Gutowski" <peter(a)linuxchamps.com> I have a 960 Photo printer. Excellent print quality and drivers were available on a RHL9 install. A friend has a 2200 running on a Mac: it appears to be identical to the 960, just wider to accomodate larger sheet size. That said, beware of consumeables $$$!!!!! I've spent far more in ink and paper since January than I paid for the printer! (And I really don't print a lot.) For Linux use, I would recommend the 2200 over the 960 hands down, if you can use Gimp-Print 5.0 (which is currently in beta). I have both of them. I consider myself qualified on this subject, as the Gimp-Print project lead. These printers are not the same; the 2200 uses UltraChrome inks (which are pigment-based) while the 960 uses conventional dye-based inks. Somewhat surprisingly, the 2200 has a wider gamut than the 960 (usually pigment inks have narrow gamut). However, it's not hard to get a good grayscale out of that printer. The 960, despite its tiny smallest drop size of 2 pl (vs. 4 pl for the 2200) does not produce as good output in my opinion. You really need to use the highest resolution (2880x1440) to get smooth texture, since printing with the 960 requires use of a lot of black ink. The 2200 has a "light black" (gray) ink that helps a lot, and in my experience you can get quite good quality even at 720 DPI and seldom need to go above 1440x720 DPI. There's a big performance difference right there! The problem with the 2200 is that Gimp-Print 4.2 doesn't drive it well, since the internal architecture doesn't cope very well with the fact that the gray (and photo black) inks aren't neutral. If you really can't switch to Gimp-Print 5.0 yet, the 2200 isn't a good choice; I'd recommend the R200 or the like. -- Robert Krawitz <rlk(a)alum.mit.edu> Tall Clubs International -- http://www.tall.org/ or 1-888-IM-TALL-2 Member of the League for Programming Freedom -- mail lpf(a)uunet.uu.net Project lead for Gimp Print -- http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net "Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works." --Eric Crampton

Aug. 31, 2004

Re: [Wlug] Linux Photo Printer recommendations

by Peter Gutowski

> Peter> I have a 960 Photo printer. Excellent print quality and drivers > Peter> were available on a RHL9 install. A friend has a 2200 running > Peter> on a Mac: it appears to be identical to the 960, just wider to > Peter> accomodate larger sheet size. > > Just make it clear, you're talking about the Epson printers here, > right? > yes > Peter> That said, beware of consumeables $$$!!!!! > > Yeah, that's the gotcha. For me, the big issue is no hassle use from > within Debian. The wife will also want to use it from Windows, but > that's another story. > > Actually, now that I think about it, a Network printer (ok, samba > shares would be fine too) is probably a key thing, so that we both have > access to either printer (we already have a laserjet 4M) from either > system. Of course she's upstairs and I'm in the basement. > Lots of up and down in my future. :] > Mine is dual-connected: via usb to "my" computer and via a jet-direct box for linux/network printing. Windows network printing (for example from my wife's laptop) is painfully slow to initialize, she complains all the time about that. Wasn't a problem when we had an HP1220 previously. > Peter> I've spent far more in ink and paper since January than I paid > Peter> for the printer! (And I really don't print a lot.) > > How many pictures can you print before you see to have to get new > cartridges? Or is the paper the expensive part? > Like the Epson 2200, this one has 7 ink cartridges: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, plus Light Cyan, Light Magenta, and 2(!!) black cartridges. Running approx $9.95@ mailorder. A full box of 50 sheets 8.5x11 glossy paper (~$23 from Amazon) seems to use up a full ink set, maybe a little more depending on coverage. You'd think that roll paper might be cheaper, but I haven't found that to be the case. (Maybe supply and demand at work here.) I'm on my 3rd box of paper since January. Also, generic printing in less that "High Quality Photo" mode seems to much less ink. -Peter

Aug. 31, 2004

Re: [Wlug] Linux Photo Printer recommendations

by John Stoffel

Peter> I have a 960 Photo printer. Excellent print quality and drivers Peter> were available on a RHL9 install. A friend has a 2200 running Peter> on a Mac: it appears to be identical to the 960, just wider to Peter> accomodate larger sheet size. Just make it clear, you're talking about the Epson printers here, right? Peter> That said, beware of consumeables $$$!!!!! Yeah, that's the gotcha. For me, the big issue is no hassle use from within Debian. The wife will also want to use it from Windows, but that's another story. Actually, now that I think about it, a Network printer (ok, samba shares would be fine too) is probably a key thing, so that we both have access to either printer (we already have a laserjet 4M) from either system. Of course she's upstairs and I'm in the basement. Lots of up and down in my future. :] Peter> I've spent far more in ink and paper since January than I paid Peter> for the printer! (And I really don't print a lot.) How many pictures can you print before you see to have to get new cartridges? Or is the paper the expensive part? John

Aug. 31, 2004

Re: [Wlug] Installing Gentoo

by Mike Frysinger

On Tuesday 31 August 2004 01:58 pm, Carlton C. Stedman II wrote: > You *can* use prebuilt binary packages, > but then why bother using Gentoo? lemme just hop on this real quick ... Gentoo has become pretty synonymous with 'compiling from source' but in reality, that is *not* what 'Gentoo' 'is' ... we push Gentoo as a distro that is full of choices ... you can choose to use binaries or you can choose to compile ... you can easily maintain a Gentoo host with just binary packages; the problem we currently sufer from is no infrastructure to build & host up-to-date binary packages for people for all our architectures so, to recap: Gentoo != compiling Gentoo == choice -mike

Aug. 31, 2004

Re: [Wlug] another vote for a future meeting topic

by Mike Frysinger

On Tuesday 31 August 2004 11:58 am, Ryan Caron wrote: > We would not be able to complete a stage 1 or stage 2 install during a > typical WLUG meeting and it is the kind of thing to let run overnight. actually, you could, if you have an amd64 or similar machine :) > If you are a laptop user you can download all the neccessary source files in > advance and leave the meeting with the laptop still compiling. Otherwise, > a constant, and preferably fast, network connection is required. yep, you can download all the source files by adding '-f' to the step you're about to execute, then proceed with the actual build to got from a 'complete Gentoo system' (stage3) to a typical 'desktop system' can be done quickly with GRP (a set of binary packages for things like KE/GNOME/X/etc...) -mike

Aug. 31, 2004

Re: [Wlug] Linux Photo Printer recommendations

by Peter Gutowski

I have a 960 Photo printer. Excellent print quality and drivers were available on a RHL9 install. A friend has a 2200 running on a Mac: it appears to be identical to the 960, just wider to accomodate larger sheet size. That said, beware of consumeables $$$!!!!! I've spent far more in ink and paper since January than I paid for the printer! (And I really don't print a lot.) > > Hi, > > Does anyone have a recommendation of a good photo printer under Linux? > I've heard good things about Epson printers, specifically the 2200 > series. > > I need a printer with USB connection, and good quality output (under > Linux, gimp-print?) of pictures/photos. > > Thanks, > John > _______________________________________________

Aug. 31, 2004

Linux Photo Printer recommendations

by John Stoffel

Hi, Does anyone have a recommendation of a good photo printer under Linux? I've heard good things about Epson printers, specifically the 2200 series. I need a printer with USB connection, and good quality output (under Linux, gimp-print?) of pictures/photos. Thanks, John

Aug. 31, 2004

In Search for Unix / Linux Career

by John Kim Ndungu

Folks, I need some help here. I am a Linux / Unix newbie and I am wondering how I can painlessly (although I realize that i must put in a lot of hard work) get a carrer in the Unix / Linux world. I am a CCNA, MCSE, CCSA, N+ and A+ and I am comfortable in the networking field. I am comfortable with the Cisco IOS, Checkpoint as well as the microsoft shit. But after realizing that Microsoft is not my very friendly area, I am leaning towards going into the Linux / Unix world. Where should I start? I dont want to spend time going to school and I am confortable with self study. What certifications would you recommend and what books do I need? Thanks, John

Aug. 31, 2004

Installing Gentoo

by Carlton C. Stedman II

>I have heard way to much about Gentoo to not try it out, but have also heard the install is not so easy. Well, the install is not easy relative to, say, SuSE or Redhat. Its not all automatic and requires you to actually do some work on the command line (setting up the mirrors for portage, optionally configuring the make.conf file to optimize compilation, partioning via good 'ol fdisk, mkfs-ing filesystems, chroot'ing and such) but a printable Quick Install Guide (http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-x86-quickinstall.xml) really takes out the difficulty. I, at least, had no problem setting it up, a couple of times. The only real issue with Gentoo is that if you do go for the compile-everything-mode it takes a good full day to get up and running, and compiling in X and KDE or GNOME is best left for a second day of work (or just let it run overnight). You *can* use prebuilt binary packages, but then why bother using Gentoo? Additionally, all the preinstall stuff can be done with the Gentoo Live CD or something like Knoppix (which I would have used, but needed 2.6 kernel support, and at the time couldn't get Knoppix to boot a 2.6 kernel, whereas the Gentoo Live CD did have it). > Someone has mentioned it before, but how about an install fest so others can get hands on with different distro installs? An installfest would be a great idea. Could hand out live CD's to linux-hopefuls and install in people's computers. I'd be up for trying to get some people running Gentoo and other distros. -- Carlton C. Stedman II, sageman(a)wpi.edu "To iterate is human, to recurse, divine." -- L. Peter Deutch

Aug. 31, 2004

Re: [WLUG] Another vote for a future meeting topic

by Phil H

Well, you probably couldn't do a Stage 1 install. Seems like you'd have to do like a Stage 3 and use --pkgonly for things like KDE/Gnome/Xorg. That's probably obvious, but thought I'd point it out. And by using --pkgonly, you lose any speed benefits that you could have gained by compiling . . . so it's kind of a catch-22. I guess it depends on the CPU and RAM of the machine, but a Stage 1 install (w/ XF86/KDE) took 4-5 days on my machine. Philip Solo mis dos centavos . . . > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:02:37 -0700 (PDT) > From: Mike Leo <mleo963(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: [Wlug] another vote for a future meeting topic > To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > Message-ID: <20040830170237.87484.qmail(a)web51310.mail.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > I have heard way to much about Gentoo to not try it > out, but have also heard the install is not so easy. > > Someone has mentioned it before, but how about an > install fest so others can get hands on with different > distro installs? > > just one man's opinion.... > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. > http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

Aug. 31, 2004