Bug 78480

Summary: Networked printer setup unnecessarily complex in handbook
Product: Documentation Reporter: Mikko Tyolajarvi <mbsd>
Component: Books & ArticlesAssignee: freebsd-doc (Nobody) <doc>
Status: Closed FIXED    
Severity: Affects Only Me    
Priority: Normal    
Version: Latest   
Hardware: Any   
OS: Any   

Description Mikko Tyolajarvi 2005-03-06 04:00:36 UTC 
Handbook section 9.4.3.2 "Printers with Networked Data Stream Interfaces"
describes how to send data to a printer that listens to a TCP/IP
port by using a filter script.

A much simpler way is to specify :lp=<port>@<host>: in /etc/printcap,
which will Just Work(tm), although the handbook claims there is no way
to do this :-)

The only gotcha is that the port has to be specified numerically; a
service name (e.g. "jetdirect") will not work.

This functionality has been around for at least five years, and is
even mentioned in printcap(5).

Fix: 

Replace or augment the section with some text explaining that
lp=port@host is sufficient in most cases, and that printers with a
"JetDirect" interface tend to listen to port 9100.
How-To-Repeat: 
Read handbook.  Read printcap(5).  Note discrepancy.
Comment 1 Warren Block freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2014-04-11 17:40:16 UTC 
State Changed
From-To: open->closed

The new (2014-04-11) Handbook chapter on printing shows port 9100 
printing.