[vox-tech] Using Linux to print to a WinNT printer from Mac?

[Mark K. Kim]

Hey guys~

At my work, we got one Mac (MacOS 9.x) and the rest PCs.  All the PCs have
Windows on them (98, XP, 2K), and one is dual-boot with Linux.  All
systems are connected via ethernet (100BaseT and 10BaseT.)

Printing works fine on all systems, except the Mac.  The printer (HP
OfficeJet G85) is attached to our one and only Win2K server.  I can print
fine from Linux.  So, I was thinking -- is there a way to get the Mac to
print to Linux, and have Linux forward the printing data to the NT to be
printed on the G85?

I think this can be done in two different ways.  One is if Linux supports
native Mac printing protocol, and if Linux can somehow be configured to
forward printing data, perhaps it can get Mac to print.  In which case, my
questions would be:

   1. Does Linux support Mac clients for printing?  How?
   2. Can Linux forward printing requests after filtering the data
      from some Mac-based protocol to SMB?  How?

The second option is to use the Dave software on the Mac.  The Mac has
Dave (SMB protocol program) installed on it, but unfortunately it can only
print to postscript-compliant printers over the SMB protocol.  Since Linux
can serve as an SMB printer server and does everything in postscript
anyway, perhaps Linux can receive the SMB print request, filter it, then
forward it to the NT print server.  In this case, my questions would be:

   1. Can Linux forward printing requests after filtering the data in SMB?
      How?

Thanks in adv!

--
Mark K. Kim
http://www.cbreak.org/
PGP key available upon request.