Printing from Windows to Linux
I have a Canon Multi-Pass attached to a Windows XP system. Our system is on a small network of both XP and Linux machines. How do I send print-jobs, fax jobs and scanning to and from it for my Linux systems? Also, is it possible to put this Multi-Pass onto a Linux box and toss the XP? It's the only major hurdle left in the migration to Linux.

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You need to work with Samba and CUPS. CUPS is an acronym for the Common UNIX Printing System. It's aimed towards providing a standard printing interface across a LAN. It also offers interactivity with both Samba and Windows printers. CUPS is free and provided under the GNU General Public License.

When used with Samba, printers can also be used on remote Windows computers and generic PostScript drivers can even be used for printing across the network. Samba is used to provide file and print services to Linux/Unix servers from Windows clients. This solution is actually the one recommended for Red Hat implementations. For specific instructions on how to configure this solutions on RHEL, check out the official Red Hat Documentation for Samba with CUPS support.

Before even thinking about putting the Multi-Pass directly on the Linux box, I would try the solution above. You will have to work very hard to find something unsupported that may or may not work because you're not going to get any official support from Canon on Linux.

This was first published in July 2007