Sharing a printer

[Lisi]

On Tuesday 13 April 2010 20:55:56 Reinhold Rumberger wrote:
> On Tuesday 13 April 2010, Lisi wrote:
> > On Tuesday 13 April 2010 16:50:18 NW wrote:
> > > We have three computers at home. The desktop is linked by cable
> > > to the router. The two laptops access the internet via wifi
> > > from the router.
> > >
> > > There is one printer connected to the desktop by cable. It
> > > occurs to me that there should be a way for the laptops to
> > > access the printer via the network.
> > >
> > > I have been looking around via google, and getting more and more
> > > confused. It can't be too difficult surely. Can anyone start me
> > > off please? I know that there are such things as a wifi enabled
> > > printer and a printer server etc. Am I asking to much to expect
> > > to have the laptops send a print command to the desktop
> > > computer which would act as a printer server I suppose.
> > >
> > > More info: desktop Kubuntu Hardy. One laptop Mint 7 Xfce. The
> > > other laptop Windows XP.
> >
> > Provided that you have the relevant packages loaded (cups client
> > and cups server), CUPS will do this for you automatically.  Or
> > should I say automagically?  ;-)
>
> Are you saying that cups, in its default configuration, will announce
> and make available any printer you have connected to your computer?
> That would seem rather risky to me...

No, makes available any printer, _installed on_ and connected to a computer on 
the network, to any other computer on the network with an operating CUPS.  I 
find this very useful on occasion.  You can presumably avoid this by not 
installing cups server.

This is dynamic, so printers appear and disappear as computers are booted 
up/shut down.

This is what the OP was wanting to achieve, so far as I could see.

Lisi

Lisi