technology

22683 readers

1 users here now

On the road to fully automated luxury gay space communism.

Spreading Linux propaganda since 2020

Rules:

1. Obviously abide by the sitewide code of conduct. Bigotry will be met with an immediate ban
2. This community is about technology. Offtopic is permitted as long as it is kept in the comment sections
3. Although this is not /c/libre, FOSS related posting is tolerated, and even welcome in the case of effort posts
4. We believe technology should be liberating. As such, avoid promoting proprietary and/or bourgeois technology
5. Explanatory posts to correct the potential mistakes a comrade made in a post of their own are allowed, as long as they remain respectful
6. No crypto (Bitcoin, NFT, etc.) speculation, unless it is purely informative and not too cringe
7. Absolutely no tech bro shit. If you have a good opinion of Silicon Valley billionaires please manifest yourself so we can ban you.

founded 4 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

What programs do you need to use a printer? (hexbear.net)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hello, everyone! I'm helping my mom debloat her laptop and there is just a ridiculous amount of epson software.

Epson connect printer setup
epson event manager
epson photo+
epson power engage
epson printer connection checker
epson scan 2
epson scan pdf Extensions
epson scan smart
epson software updater
epsonNet print

how many of these can i delete and still have a functional printer? or better yet, is there a libre solution to using all of this junk in one app? thanks comrades

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

What printer model? What OS (assuming Windows)? What interface (USB? Network?)

Most printers don't require any special software - especially if it is a network printer. If it is a USB model, it may require a driver, but you should be able to install a printer driver without any of these applications. Windows has built-in functionality for printing and scanning, as well as sharing these devices over the network. You might consider some fancy scanning software (which doesn't necessarily have to come from the same vendor as your printer/scanner - e.g. Paperwork) if you are trying to do automatic OCR and convert scans to searchable PDF documents.

I'd try unplugging the printer, uninstalling all of it, plugging the printer back in, and letting Windows try to automatically retrieve whatever driver is necessary. If this doesn't work, I'd then return to the Epson website and try to download drivers / software, unchecking every optional feature / add-on possible when downloading / installing them.

On Linux, the two main components are CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) and SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy). All end-user software interacts with these components, and all drivers are written targeting these components (as opposed to the OS kernel directly). As a result, the end user software, the device drivers, and the OS are mostly decoupled and interchangeable. This is basically how stuff works in the libre world. Apparently both CUPS and SANE can also be used on Windows, but I imagine it would be impractical for various reasons and certainly redundant.