Lesson 17. Printing with Unix

In this lesson, you'll learn how to print with your Unix system.

This lesson doesn't cover system administration–level work such as installing and deploying printers but how you, the Unix user, interface with a printer already configured for operation.

Similar to how Unix views everything as a file, Unix also views printing differently and does not create a difference between printing locally and remotely. Because of this, a printer can be physically attached to your system, or not attached to your system but attached to another system, or merely a device put on the network itself.

Quick History Lesson In the past, there have been two different Unix printing methodologies: the lp system and the lpd system. lpd was created on the Berkeley Standard Distribution (BSD) Unix and lp was created on the AT&T System V. Since the lp system is older and less functional, this chapter will primarily focus on the use of lpd. If you are still trapped into using lp, this chapter can help you, but it's better if you consult your man pages as well.

Now, let's look at how to send a print job using the lpr command.