Startup services (Re: ubuntu-laptop useful?)

Matt Zimmerman mdz at ubuntu.com
Mon May 8 22:42:40 BST 2006


On Mon, May 08, 2006 at 05:30:53PM -0400, Chris Wagner wrote:
> Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> >On Sat, May 06, 2006 at 03:08:43PM +0200, Thilo Six wrote:
> >> 206  update-rc.d -f cupsys remove
> >> 207  update-rc.d -f hplip remove
> >
> >
> >Similar problem; there's no way to know if a printer is connected
> >(especially if it's turned off at boot time).  Most desktop users seem to
> >want to print at some point in their lives, and CUPS needs to be running
> >then.  It runs with special privileges, so it can't be started by the user.
> >Remember that a printer could be turned on or connected at any time, and
> >parallel port printers can't be automatically detected (USB printers could
> >theoretically trigger the startup of printing services when connected).
> 
> If udev/dbus/whatever can automatically start CUPS for USB printers, 
> then the problem is only with parallel port printers (right?).  And, 
> since these cannot be autodetected, then some kind of manual 
> "installation" process must take place when the user decides to make use 
> of such a printer (as is required, now, with all printers).  So, perhaps 
> CUPS could be started only when a the user attempts to "install" a 
> printer -- when he hits System->Administration->Printers->New Printer.
> 
> It seems like this would be possible, theoretically, but I'd guess there 
> would be problems with the Ubuntu/GNOME printer management implementation:
>  a) How would you know if printers are "installed" (so we know whether 
> to start CUPS) if CUPS isn't running?  You could probably look at the 
> configuration for CUPS, but that may or may not be a good idea (?).
>  b) The GNOME "Printers" panel would probably have to be reprogrammed 
> to start CUPS, if it wasn't running already, when the user hit "New 
> Printer".

Yes, it should be possible to have the GNOME printer configuration tool
enable CUPS startup when a printer is added; of course, before CUPS could be
disabled by default, this would need to be done for the corresponding
printer administration tools in Kubuntu and Xubuntu.

> Not sure about all this, but it seems maybe it's just an issue of 
> whether or not it's worth the trouble that it would be to not auto-start 
> CUPS by default.

Exactly.  Not only do we have genuine bugs to fix, but there are easier
gains to be found which don't require this much work.

-- 
 - mdz



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