Thu, 22 Dec 2005
Duplicated work
A coworker of mine bought a new printer - HP OfficeJet 7400 printer/scanner/copier/fax. I have been trying to make this beast working under Linux. I have found that HP has a new project - hplip (HP Linux Printing and Imaging), which extends an older hpijs. I have been able to print and scan over USB (and print over the ethernet/wifi) using this software.
I tried to find a RPM package of hplip without success (it is not in DAG RPMs, Livna, nor Fedora Extras). So I have decided to make RPMs (which I need anyway for an older FC3 box) and contribute it to Fedora Extras. My RPMs are here, but after sending them to Fedora Extras I have figured out that hplip packages are in Rawhide, and even in FC4 updates-testing repository (where they are probably scheduled to replace the older hpijs project). Yet another piece of redundant work from me :-(
Anyway, the 7400 is pretty nice device. It has quite user-friendly interface, allows to scan directly to the memory card, print photos from the memory card, I was able to print an image via Bluetooth even from my Palm, print a v-Card from my cell phone, etc. The only (yet rather big) drawback is the two-cartridge design (one catridge with black ink, and another one with cyan-magenta-yellow combo). The 6- or 7-ink printers from Epson have definitely a better quality (but they are not such user-friendly).