Printing

Printing from Linux

How do I print?

On most of the hosts, you should just be able to use the lpr command to print. lpr will try to do a good job of figuring out how to properly print the file you send it. For example, if you want to print out the source code for a C program called test.c, you should be able to type the following at the shell prompt:

  lpr test.c

This will work for plain text or postscript files.

Where does my printout go?

By default, your printout will go to the printer in the general area of room 112. However, you can send it to other printers if you prefer. lpr takes a -P command line option that lets you specify the printer your output should go to. So, for example, if you wanted to print a file to the printer in Cashion 306, you could type.

  lpr -P csh-306-bw test.c

There is an environment variable, PRINTER, that you can use to set your default printer. For example, if you set PRINTER to ecs214, your printouts should go to the printer in Cashion 308 by default, you could put something like the following in your .profile.

  PRINTER=csh-308-bw
  export PRINTER

What printers do we have?

Our Linux systems can send output to printers in most of the public labs. You should be able to use any of the following printer names to send printed output to a printer in the corresponding room.

csh-201-bw
csh-202-bw
csh-306-bw
csh-308-bw
hnk-27x-bw
rog-112-bw