ghostscript-printer-app
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Proposal: Create a Unified Legacy-Printer-App
Background
Currently, legacy printer support is split across multiple printer applications (e.g., ghostscript-printer-app, ps-printer-app, etc.) that handle different printing stacks. While this separation might make sense from a development perspective, it could create unnecessary complexity for end users who have to figure out which printing backend their legacy device uses (an implementation detail) as opposed to picking a make and a model from the printer setup menu (current CUPS 2.x experience).
Proposed Solution
Create a unified legacy-printer-app that consolidates existing printer applications into a single solution. Key features:
- Single entry point for bridging legacy printer support, the "xwayland" or "pipewire-pulse" analog for printing.
- Internal handling of different printing stacks, where users select legacy printers by brand and model.
Benefits
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For users: Reduce confusion during CUPS 3.x transition, simplified printer setup process.
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For development: Consolidated codebase, reducing duplication/maintenance overhead.
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For packaging: Less packages to track/release/maintain.
While the unified Snap/Docker container may be slightly larger in size, most dependencies already overlap between current apps, resulting in a minimal size increase if any.