Is CUPS losing the print-to-pdf feature?

[loops]

Hi!

Just noticed that cups-pdf is warning that "Printer drivers are deprecated and will stop working in a future version of CUPS", and I was wondering if this functionality will be lost, or if the warning can be ignored?

Thanks.

[michaelrsweet]

First, "cups-pdf" is a third-party add-on.

Second, most OS's and applications offer a "Save/Export to PDF" functionality already.

Finally, the (long-included) ippeveprinter tool can be used to create a virtual PDF printer that saves its output to a directory. This works for all versions of CUPS since 1.4.

[loops]

Hi Michael,

cups-pdf

It may be a third-party add-on, but it's still enabled by the current capabilities of CUPS. And it sounds like we're losing that ability. I have seen a lot of systems that have made use of the ability to customize the pipeline, between application and printer. Essentially, CUPS enabled the creation of middleware, that put a lot of power in the hands of administrators and sysops.

Second, most OS's and applications offer a "Save/Export to PDF" functionality already.

I don't think it's most applications; there is a huge world of custom and one-off applications that benefit from not having to code a separate feature for printing to pdf. Printing to pdf becomes available to every application that can print. It's quite a nice feature to toss in the garbage in the name of security and convenience for less skilled users.

ippeveprinter

It sounds like this will mostly allow all the same abilities that are going to be lost, just in a slightly different way; and make CUPS simpler over all.

Thanks.

[michaelrsweet]

Second, most OS's and applications offer a "Save/Export to PDF" functionality already.
I don't think it's most applications; there is a huge world of custom and one-off applications that benefit from not having to code a separate feature for printing to pdf. Printing to pdf becomes available to every application that can print. It's quite a nice feature to toss in the garbage in the name of security and convenience for less skilled users.

The standard print dialog on macOS and Linux offers this functionality, so it is really just those applications that don't use the standard print dialog that need to provide the functionality. One of the weaknesses of cups-pdf is that it is running as a system user and not the print user, so it limits where you can place files if you want any sort of system security...

[loops]

The standard print dialog on macOS and Linux offers this functionality, so it is really just those applications that don't use the standard print dialog that need to provide the functionality. One of the weaknesses of cups-pdf is that it is running as a system user and not the print user, so it limits where you can place files if you want any sort of system security...

There is a large user base of legacy applications that will never be rewritten and run in the terminal, not in the GUI; many of which don't want any user interaction when a print is initiated. I understand that CUPS is losing capabilities in the name of security and ease of use for naive users, but that shifts the burden on admins to jury-rig new solutions.