PostScript vs. PCL3 vs PCL6

[pipitas at gmail.com]

> swsnyder wrote:
>
> > I've got a networked HP Color LaserJet CP4025 printer which is connected
> > to a RHEL v5.5 server.  RHEL/CUPS doesn't support this printer out of
> > the box, so I installed HP's open source package, HPLIP v3.10.5.
> >
> > When configuring the CP4025 in RHEL CUPS my only option was the
> > PostScript driver.  I can print correctly from CUPS on the server.
> >
> > I exported the printer via Samba, and I can successfully print from
> > Windows boxes.  Installing HP's current CP4025 drivers on Windows I was
> > only offered the option of PCL6.
> >
> > I configured local printers on Fedora 12 & 13 systems, pointing them to
> > the CUPS server on the RHEL server.  I selected the printer model from
> > the system-config-printer tool and was only given the option of PCL3.
> >
> > To sum up:
> >
> > RHEL Server:	CUPS(PS) --> CP4025
> >
> > Windows:	driver(PCL6) --> Samba --> CUPS --> CP4025
> >
> > Fedora{12,13}:	driver(PCL3) --> IPP --> CUPS --> CP4025
> >
> > FWIW, RHEL is running CUPS v1.3.7 and the Fedora machines are running CUPS
> > v1.4.2 and 1.4.3.
> >
> > On initial testing, it all seems to work.  What nags at me, though, are
> > the 3 different methods of page description.  Am I wrong to think that
> > mixing PostScript, PCL3 and PCL6 is a problem waiting to happen?
> >
> > Thanks.
>
> I'd install the printer on the Wondows boxes using cupadddsmb. Then you have
> the same PPD on Win as with CUPS.

That's not entirely true. The 'cupsaddsmb' procedures do apply a few modifications to the original CUPS PPD. These modes might change some Foomatic-based PPDs in a way to prevent them working correctly with foomatic-rip (depending on the version of the original PPD, version of cupsaddsmb, version of Samba, and version of foomatic-rip).