Skip to content

Conversation

@SinghCod3r
Copy link
Contributor

Changes:

  • Updated the <url> tags in Postscript-InfoPrint.xml, pxlcolor-InfoPrint.xml, and pxlmono-InfoPrint.xml.
  • Replaced the dead manufacturer link (http://www.infoprintsolutionscompany.com/) with the OpenPrinting Manufacturer archive page (https://www.openprinting.org/printers/manufacturer/InfoPrint).

Reason:
The InfoPrint Solutions Company website is no longer active (the company was acquired and the domain is dead). Since no direct upstream source exists for these legacy drivers, pointing to the OpenPrinting manufacturer category serves as the correct archival reference for users.

@SinghCod3r
Copy link
Contributor Author

@tillkamppeter , fixed the issue of this url too.

@tillkamppeter
Copy link
Member

First, InfoPrint is a brand of Ricoh, AFAIK they have bought together many other printer manufacturers and with this gained several brand names: Gestetner, InfoPrint, Infotec, Lanier, NRG, Ricoh, Savin Many printers which Ricoh has developed were, with identical hardware and software, released under 6 or 7 brand names. You can see it in the Foomatic database and there especially also in the ready-made manufacturer PPD files.

It is possible that in the recent decade they have reduced brand name clutter, giving up some of the names.

Therefore I recommend to check whether the URL for the actual manufacturer, "Ricoh", is still working and if the URL of a sub-brand ceased to work, here of InfoPrint, put in the Ricoh URL there, this most probably helps the users best to find the right information.

Also, I got regularly, in recent years as Pull Requests (see the closed Pull Requests of foomatic-db) PPD and XML files for new models of Ricoh (+ sub-brands), but the last time it happened was in Feb 2024, near 2 years back. I have the feeling that they stopped providing PPD files due to all modern printers, including their new models being driverless already for several years (and all common operating systems actually support driverless printing).

The Ricoh PPDs are adapted to use with CUPS, they use foomatic-rip to do advanced options like passwords, so they are not the same as the ones for Windows and Mac. Therefore their official upstream location is not at Ricoh but at OpenPrinting.

@SinghCod3r
Copy link
Contributor Author

@tillkamppeter ,
Thank you for the detailed context regarding Ricoh and its sub-brands! That history explains why so many drivers share similar architecture.

Regarding the URL: I currently pointed it to the OpenPrinting InfoPrint archive because, as you mentioned, these specific Foomatic-RIP PPDs are not typically hosted on the main Ricoh commercial site anymore. The OpenPrinting page seemed like the 'safest' upstream location for a Linux user.
However, if you prefer, I can update the URL to point to the main https://www.ricoh.com site instead. Please let me know which you think serves the user best, and I will update the PR immediately!

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

2 participants