Business printing under Linux

Getting help with your open-source OS

Microsoft Windows is still the the most widely used PC operating system among business users worldwide - but an increasing number of commercial users are looking to alternative operating systems such as Linux to cut their software costs.

Linux-based operating systems, which have developed from code written by Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds, are generally free to use, and based around 'open source' code - so they're a collaborative project with users worldwide contributiing improvements to the operating system, as well as fixes to issues as they're discovered.

One of the biggest problems facing Linux users - and a key issue affecting business users looking to adopt the platform - is printing under the OS.

The code used by Linux differs fundamentally from that of Windows, and so requires very different printer driver software to be created. Many printer suppliers lag behind on Linux support, with many printers lacking drivers in the box.

A list of compatible printers can be found at www.openprinting.org, together with a large number of specially created or modified drivers for other printers, posted by an active community of developers for The Linux Foundation.

This article was brought to you as part of THINQ's Business Printing Hub in association with HP.