Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2010 17:43:21 +0200 From: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de> To: "C. P. Ghost" <cpghost@cordula.ws> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, Robert Bonomi <bonomi@mail.r-bonomi.com> Subject: Re: The nightmarish problem of installing a printer Message-ID: <20100921174321.ee8d55ef.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=VBb=_9_=HkhN61tbbS=3EYBVf3QNiML-cWM=o@mail.gmail.com> References: <201009201716.o8KHGpxf013791@mail.r-bonomi.com> <AANLkTi=VBb=_9_=HkhN61tbbS=3EYBVf3QNiML-cWM=o@mail.gmail.com>
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On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 02:42:22 +0200, "C. P. Ghost" <cpghost@cordula.ws> wrote: > On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 7:16 PM, Robert Bonomi <bonomi@mail.r-bonomi.com> wrote: > Is that really so? How about writing some emulation shim like ndis(4) for > winprinters? Please correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm not a Windows systems > programmer, but this is what I'm thinking about. One big problem is that "Windows" doesn't equal "Windows". I had customers who intendedly bought some printer, then needed to switch to another "Windows", and then found their printer useless as there was no specific driver available anymore. Creating compatibility layers for printer drivers that do not care about compatibility at all is like shooting a moving target. As I am not a "Windows" person, I could only imagine that this would be much more difficult than printer manufacturers (who sit "at the source") agreeing to simply use an existing and documented standard. > So, in both cases, we have stable API/ABI interfaces on both sides > of the windriver binary blob: 1/, 2/ at the upper half, and 2/ at the bottom > half. I really doubt about a "stable interface", or situations as described above wouldn't have happened. > So, if we wanted to use those windriver blobs just like in the ndis(4) > case, all we need is an emulation shim for both interfaces. Maybe 1/ is > already covered by Wine (?) so we could borrow some code from there; > and 2/ is basically a matter of mapping the subset of NT calls needed > to read from and write to Windows ports to Unix calls to read and write > to our Unix devices. Keep in mind there are stupid things in the world as patents, intelellectual property, licensing fees and copyrighted secret codes. At the moment there was a program (or any other kind of facility) that makes Winprinters accessible by *ANY* OS (not only FreeBSD, but maybe all BSDs and Linusi and Solaris and who knows what else), MICROS~1 would start violently screaming as someone is eating from their cake. Keep in mind that Winprinters are an important target platform for home users who PAY for "Windows" and PAY for a "compatible" printer. They pay once every two years or so. MICROS~1 and the printer manufacturers can't stand it if one uses their products too long, as long-term use does imply NO FURTHER SALES. And now imagine that a user can fully use all features of a formerly-Winprinter all-in-one ink pee copier scanner fax machine - where would be his need to buy a "Windows" to do that as he can now use FreeBSD for free? Of course, this consideration is very far away from any technical understanding - as typical for lawpersons who make money from bullshit. :-) > But the basic idea remains: the interfaces on both sides of the > windriver binary blobs is pretty stable and (I think) not a secret at all. In that case, I would ask myself: Why hasn't it been done already? If your assumption was right, it would already work. As it currently does not work, I would check your assumption. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...
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