Debian bug report logs - #1061, boring messages

Message sent to debian-devel@pixar.com:

Subject: Bug#1061: /etc/printcap vs. /usr/man/man5/printcap.5
Reply-To: rdr@legislate.com (Raul Miller), debian-bugs@pixar.com
Resent-To: debian-devel@pixar.com
Resent-From: rdr@legislate.com (Raul Miller)
Resent-Sender: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk
Resent-Date: Wed, 28 Jun 1995 22:03:02 GMT
Resent-Message-ID: <debian-bugs-handler.1061.062821495528766@pixar.com>
Message-Id: <m0sR1Fc-0004hhC@hydra.legislate.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Jun 95 17:50 GMT
From: rdr@legislate.com (Raul Miller)
To: debian-bugs@pixar.com

Package: lpr
version: 5.9
package_revision: 6

/etc/printcap has the following entries:
        :df=/etc/filter.ps:\
        :tf=/etc/filter.pcl:\

The printcap manual page has this to say:

FILTERS
     The lpd(8) daemon creates a pipeline of filters to process files for var-
     ious printer types.  The filters selected depend on the flags passed to
     lpr(1).  The pipeline set up is:

           p       pr | if regular text + pr(1)
           none    if      regular text
           c       cf      cifplot
           d       df      DVI (tex)
           g       gf      plot(3)
           n       nf      ditroff
           f       rf      Fortran
           t       tf      troff
           v       vf      raster image

This means that the documentation says that:
  lpr -d	will print dvi format files
  lpr -t	will print troff format files

but the implementation is such that
  lpr -d	will print postscript format files
  lpr -t	will print pcl format files

Oddly enough, there are debian packages for TeX support as well as for
*roff support.

Also: when using this implementation hack (-d) for postscript support,
the printer may be left in the middle of the final page, which means
that later print jobs will begin there.

[As an aside, the default configuration assumes an epson compatible
printer for postscript support, and a pcl compatible printer for pcl
support.]

Ideally:

(a) the documentation would agree with the implementation
(b) the filters would support standard options where debian software exists
(c) the options would be meaningful for postscript (and pcl?)
(d) there'd be some sort of interactive dialog mechanism for printer
configuration

(d) is probably the hardest...  I could live with punting on this
issue if there's pointers to decent documentation.

--
Raul

Message sent:

From: iwj10@thor.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson)
To: rdr@legislate.com (Raul Miller)
Subject: Bug#1061: Acknowledgement (was: /etc/printcap vs. /usr/man/man5/printcap.5)
In-Reply-To: <m0sR1Fc-0004hhC@hydra.legislate.com>
References: <m0sR1Fc-0004hhC@hydra.legislate.com>

Thank you for the problem report you have sent regarding Debian GNU/Linux.
This is an automatically generated reply, to let you know your message has
been received.  It is being forwarded to the developers' mailing list for
their attention; they will reply in due course.

If you wish to submit further information on your problem, please send
it to debian-bugs@pixar.com, but please ensure that the Subject
line of your message starts with "Bug#1061" or "Re: Bug#1061" so that
we can identify it as relating to the same problem.

Please do not reply to the address at the top of this message,
unless you wish to report a problem with the bug-tracking system.

Ian Jackson
(maintainer, debian-bugs)

Message sent to debian-devel@pixar.com:

Subject: Bug#1061: etc/printcap vs. /usr/man/man5/printcap.5
Reply-To: mitchell@mdd.comm.mot.com (Bill Mitchell), debian-bugs@pixar.com
Resent-To: debian-devel@pixar.com
Resent-From: mitchell@mdd.comm.mot.com (Bill Mitchell)
Resent-Sender: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk
Resent-Date: Wed, 28 Jun 1995 22:33:01 GMT
Resent-Message-ID: <debian-bugs-handler.1061.062822214729782@pixar.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Jun 95 15:20:01 PDT
From: mitchell@mdd.comm.mot.com (Bill Mitchell)
Message-Id: <9506282220.AA02383@bb29c.mdd.comm.mot.com>
To: debian-bugs@pixar.com, rdr@legislate.com

> Ideally:
>
> (a) the documentation would agree with the implementation
> (b) the filters would support standard options where debian software exists
> (c) the options would be meaningful for postscript (and pcl?)
> (d) there'd be some sort of interactive dialog mechanism for printer
> configuration
>
> (d) is probably the hardest...  I could live with punting on this
> issue if there's pointers to decent documentation.

Just commenting that there are several packages which do interactive
user dialog for configuration.  My kermit package and Ian Jackson's
smail package come to mind.  There probably ought to be some set
of standard conventions for doing this sort of thing.

Message sent:

From: iwj10@thor.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson)
To: mitchell@mdd.comm.mot.com (Bill Mitchell)
Subject: Bug#1061: Info received (was Bug#1061: /etc/printcap vs. /usr/man/man5/printcap.5)
In-Reply-To: <9506282220.AA02383@bb29c.mdd.comm.mot.com>
References: <9506282220.AA02383@bb29c.mdd.comm.mot.com>

Thank you for the additional information you have supplied regarding
this problem report.  It has been forwarded to the developers to
accompany the original report.

If you wish to continue to submit further information on your problem,
please do the same thing again: send it to debian-bugs@pixar.com, ensuring
that the Subject line starts with "Bug#1061" or "Re: Bug#1061" so that
we can identify it as relating to the same problem.

Please do not reply to the address at the top of this message,
unless you wish to report a problem with the bug-tracking system.

Ian Jackson
(maintainer, debian-bugs)

Ian Jackson / iwj10@thor.cam.ac.uk, with the debian-bugs tracking mechanism

This page last modified 07:43:01 GMT Wed 01 Nov