[RFE] STR #3935: Drop serial and parallelbackends

[roland]

>
> DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE.  INSTEAD, POST ANY RESPONSES TO THE LINK BELOW.
>
> [STR Closed w/Resolution]
>
> Fixed in Subversion repository.
>
> Link: http://www.cups.org/str.php?L3935
> Version: 1.6-feature
> Fix Version: 1.6-current (r9925)
>

If there actually was a method of posting something at the link, I would respond there.

DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES DROP SUPPORT FOR SERIAL AND PARALLEL PRINTERS.

Whoever came up with that idea has no concept of reality.

There are more than 50 million AARP members.  The majority of those members (estimated to be 35-40 million according to AARP) are on ever shrinking fixed incomes using older 32-bit computers.  While some of these computers still have their original Windows distro, most have been "refurbished" to use some form of Linux distro so they could meet all of the member's needs without costing anything.

These people are, for the most part, non-technical.  They send email, surf the Web looking for cheap drug sources, and communicate with other members of their voting block because they are all registered voters.

Just because BestBuy didn't sell a PP printer last year doesn't mean dropping support for PP and serial is a good idea.

You will also find that most operations involving truck scales still use serial printers.  Why?  Because it was and still is the cheapest long distance shielded communication method.