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CUPS server CUPS consist of a print spooler and scheduler, a filter system that converts the print data to a format that the printer will understand, and a backend system that sends this data to the print device. CUPS uses the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) as the basis for managing print Jobs and queues.
It also provides the traditional command line interfaces for the System V and Berkeley print systems, and provides support for the Berkeley print system’s Line Printer Daemon protocol and limited support for the server message block (SMB) protocol. System administrators can confgure the device drivers which CUPS supplies by editing text files in Adobe’s PostScript Printer Description (PPD) format. There are a number of user interfaces for different platforms that can configure CUPS, and it has a built-in web-based interface.
CUPS is free software, provided under the GNU General Public License and GNU Lesser General Public License, Version 2. CUPS can be seen as a replacement for the LPD printing system. It replaces the Ipr command with its own and the LPD printer drivers with its own versions. However, CUPS is similar to LPD in that it uses PostScript as its underlying language for page escriptions. Linux (and UNIX) programs don’t know the difference between CUPS and LPD.
CUPS contains a list of printer drivers that include most printers with a parallel port, USB and even serial connections. A note about serial connections: connecting a printer with a null-modem serial line is slow and more difficult to set up than a parallel line. But, it is sufficient for a matrix printer–for bulk printing or multiple copies–and makes an easy way to build a print server from a pile of older hardware. http://www. linuxJournal. com/article/8618 https://help. ubuntu. com/10. 04/serverguide/cups. html