Re: Windevices was: RE: [aclug-L] phoebe micro pci modem 56k

[John Goerzen <jgoerzen@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi!

On Fri, Dec 04, 1998 at 11:18:34AM -0600, Thomas Wallis wrote:

>       This discussion brings up an interesting question.  How can you
> tell if a modem is a Winmodem or not?  Also, how about Winprinters?

It's not always easy to tell from the packaging.  My advice is generally to
get a non-WinModem USR (Sportster or Courier), which will be a very good
modem anyway.

> them pretty cheap.  I suspect that sooner or later, they will ALL be
> Winmodems, except for external ones.   Also, the printer situation is

I'm not quite that pessimistic, because modems are basically near the end of
their useful life anyway -- there isn't much innovation going on there
anymore, and R&D dollars are going elsewhere.

> ugly.  Even on the manufacturer's websites, they don't say exactly
> WINPRINTER.  They tell you it works with Windows 95, 98, and NT.  That
> doesn't mean it wouldn't work with LINUX.   I often check Dejanews to find
> out about a particular printer under LINUX.  That is about all you can do,
> it seems.  

For printers, you can check the Ghostscript compatibility list at:

http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/printer.html

which can give a rough idea.  In general, if it supports PCL or PostScript,
you're fine.  For ink jets, there isn't such a rule, but see that page for a
good list.

-- 
John Goerzen   Linux, Unix consulting & programming   jgoerzen@xxxxxxxxxxxx |
Developer, Debian GNU/Linux (Free powerful OS upgrade)       www.debian.org |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Visit the Air Capital Linux Users Group on the web at http://www.aclug.org
---
This is the Air Capital Linux Users Group discussion list.  If you
want to unsubscribe, send the word "unsubscribe" to
aclug-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx.  If you want to post to the list, send your
message to aclug-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx.