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Easy printing in Ubuntu from Windows

September 9, 2008 | Tips, Tricks & Tutorials, Web Development | Stephen O'Neill | 2 Comments »

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I need to do a bit more flag waving for Ubuntu Linux. I have said it before, and I will say it again:

Ditch Microsoft Windows.

Download Ubuntu for free, don’t pay the Microsoft tax.

Anyway, my most recent wonderfulism was when I was sharing printers. A few years ago I was using Fedora Linux on a machine upstairs. Vicky was using Windows XP downstairs and wanted to use the printer that was connected upstairs.

Frankly this was always a pain in the arse.

It didn’t “Just Work” ™. Windows hated the printer. I had to edit config files by hand on the Linux machine.

A few weeks ago I re-installed the operating system, overwriting it with Ubuntu because I’m desperately trying to sell my old machine (shameless plug!).

I was dreading setting the printer sharing backup – but I needn’t have worried. About a dozen clicks later, on both Linux and Windows and lo’ it was all working.

If you want to share your printer with Windows, do this:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NetworkPrintingFromWinXP

I should say by the way that I’m not sure whether this is because Ubuntu is ace, or just because Linux has moved on somewhat in recent years. I suspect the latter, it would certainly be unwise to draw conclusions about Fedora based on this as it would not be a fair test!

Author : Stephen O'Neill

Stephen O'Neill (aka Squid) is the co-founder of The Floating Frog and has written in excess of 50+ articles on web design development on the blog. Stephen now occasionally blogs, focusing his attention on his career at Ebuyer, his love for growing vegetables and his rescued cat.