problem with large number of printers

[chbeyer]

hey,

this is somehow more a basic understanding problem on my half maybe. I have a rather big lpd based environment (>500 printer) with a clustered server. Exporting the queues via cups works just fine, but on the clients I don't get a satisfying behaviour:

1st try: use 'browse-poll' (the server is in a different subnet than the clients) in the 'cupsd.conf' of the client, all printers are there but detailed ppd information are not visible (default format duplex units etc)

2nd try: install a dedicated printer from the server usig the kde-print-wizzard, leads fast to stupid questions about what type of printer etc. using 'raw-printer' is no solution (no individual printer information visible)

3rd try: use 'ServerName' option in the 'client.conf' of the clients, aah printer look good now, detailed information about oll off them, but of course everything is veeery slow, administering the printers is nearly impossible, some applications are slowed down on start-up because they poll all printer queues etc. gnome is even weirder than kde :-(

So what I need is a mixture of 2nd and 3rd try, the user should be able to browse the print-server via a build in desktop tool and install the bunch of printers he/she wants to without having detailed knowledge about the printer hardware. The installed printers should then display individual ppd dependent options like the admin prepared them on the server, sounds normal to me but somehow I'm stuck, any hints someone ????