HP among 34 organisations that have just joined the Linux Foundation

HP among 34 organisations that have just joined the Linux Foundation
February 25, 2019
https://www.neowin.net/news/hp-among-34-organisations-who-have-just-joined-the-linux-foundation

 

HP does not provide proper driver support for Linux. They are only seeking publicity, not serving consumers.

 

Ditto on that. I have pretty decent drivers for my HP printer, but its not because HP created them. When you use Linux, driver acquisition can be a task!

 

Who did create them then?

Whoever did, HP at least seems to endorse them and make the drivers available for use from their website.

 

HPLIP is the driver I use for my printer. I went ahead and looked it up. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Linux_Imaging_and_Printing :

I know if I needed another printer it would likely be another HP because it does work with Linux. (So does my Epson scanner BTW, and if i recall, the driver for it came from Epson, though a generic one is also available.)

I gave shmu26 the benefit of the doubt not knowing exactly what he's talking about, but I assumed it may have been computers and not peripherals. I understand Dell, for instance, has made computers that shipped with Ubuntu. But I don't know about HP, or how well one of their computers would work with Linux. But I am a little wary as I know that if anything is brought up about a corporation or organization that could be positive, someone will always be quick to point out that the company is really evil.

 

I did some further checking:

https://www8.hp.com/us/en/workstations/linux.html

https://certification.ubuntu.com/certification/make/HP/

So I assume your experience is different?

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47377707

Pretty good for an uncaring company that doesn't provide proper Linux support, even if they're only doing it for for publicity.

 

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/hp-computer-stranded-in-space.413937/

 

HP provides a universal print-to-fax driver that is Windows only. This happens to be a very important function for me, and it is not supported on linux. If anyone knows a workaround, I would be very happy to be corrected.

My inquiries about this driver issue on the official HP forum went unanswered.

Yes, you can print from most HP printers on a ubuntu-based distro, but don't expect full driver support, because you won't get it.

Again, if anyone can prove me wrong, and tell me how to print to fax on linux, I would be delighted to find out that my post was incorrect. Until then, I stand by my statement that HP does not provide proper driver support for linux.

 

I don't know of any print to telegraph type drivers either.

I guess if providing drivers for functions that, as far as I know, are relativity obscure and that few people need is proper, then maybe HP doesn't provide proper support.

But I think it also behooves the consumer to do their own research concerning the products they buy. For instance, if your HP printer claimed that it was fax compatible for Linux, and it isn't, then you have a right to complain.

Here is a chart of HP printers that are compatible with HPLIP "PC Send Fax" https://developers.hp.com/hp-linux-imaging-and-printing/supported_devices/index

As with everything, not every product necessarily provides every capability possible, which is why it is necessary for the consumer to do their homework and pick the product which is right for them.

I can't say as to whether HP not answering your question on their forum necessarily makes them uncaring, or if they have limited manpower to respond to people who haven't done a proper web search, or who haven't described their question well or politely, or what; but it is understandable if you choose not to do business with them.

Who knows, maybe joining the Linux Foundation is an indication that they wish to up their game and provider even better support.... nah, couldn't be, they're uncaring and evil.

Edit: Here is another link that may or not be helpful: https://developers.hp.com/hp-linux-imaging-and-printing/howtos/faxing

 

Yup. I sure will do that next time. But when I bought my printer a few years ago, I was just running plain old Windows. I also not using the print to fax function, so I would have been in for an unpleasant surprise in any case.

But the "right to complain" is not the point. Admittedly, no company has a legal obligation to support a certain OS unless they advertise as such. My point is simply what I said: proper driver support.
Lack of proper driver support is perhaps the biggest obstacle to the success of Linux. People think they are getting a free, open-source OS, and they find out that they need to repurchase a lot of expensive, proprietary hardware in order to use it. That's a bit ironic, wouldn't you say?

 

Not really from my experience. I've had more problems with existing hardware from Windows updates. A couple that have come to mind; I've had to replace a scanner some years ago after a Windows upgrade (both scanners are working in Linux now), a USB to serial adapter that Windows started substituting an incompatible driver for when I updated to Windows 10 (both it and the new adapter cable are working on Linux), and my elderly laptop computer that ended up being incompatible with a major W10 update, but works great on Linux. I haven't had to buy any new hardware to work with Linux at all.

As anything, each needs to determine which is right for them, dual boot for a trial, or whatever you have to do. But in my experience Linux saves me from continual upgrade expenses, which seems to be the opposite of what your experience, at least for my modest needs.

 

You are correct in that HP gives some behind the scenes support. The question begs why NONE of their printer DVDs (the ones with a new printer purchase) ever come with a Linux driver. They ALL come with Windows and Mac drivers. Newer linux users or those considering linux notice no drivers so they just stay with Windows or Mac.

 

For my old HP Elitebook, if I go to softwares and drivers download section on the HP website, if I choose Windows as OS, the latest available bios is from 2018, but if I choose Linux it is from 2011.. And even on the Linux page, it is also an EXE file.

 

Because every distro includes them already. But a hint that those devices are also supported by Linux would be helpful, indeed.

 

If drivers work better for you on linux than on windows, that's great. It's the first time I ever saw such a post, but there's a first time for everything, I guess.

 

Really? I thought it was very common for older equipment to work well with Linux that Windows stopped supporting completely, I thought that was one of the big draws and one big reason I went with Linux, so I didn't have to continually buy new equipment.

But I don't know why you're even interested in Linux at all given Windows does everything you want and Linux doesn't.

 

It's interesting where you saw in my posts that Windows does everything I want.
I prefer Linux for a number of reasons, but driver support ain't one of them. The mouse I am using at the moment, a Logitech, also doesn't have full driver support on Linux.

 

If Linux does some things that Windows doesn't, that's great. It's the first time I ever saw such a post, but there's a first time for everything, I guess.

 

I've got very little experience with Linux, so don't know much about its driver support. But as for Windows, I find driver support to be excellent, even for older hardware. Of course there are some exceptions. I had an old HP printer, for which I was unable to find a driver that worked on Windows 10. But given time, I may have been able to find a solution.

 

I am sure that you, too, could tell us plenty of ways in which Linux works better than Windows. This is a point we could agree on, I am sure of it. But you got me to change my mind about the whole issue. I admit I was wrong. Incomplete driver support is not the biggest problem with Linux. It is the black-and-white attitude of certain Linux super-enthusiasts. Present company excluded, of course.

 

Look, I never said one is better than the other, I told you my experience, and driver support is more than adequate for me, but then I'm not looking for print to smoke signal functions, and my Logitech mouse works exactly the way I expect a mouse to work, I have no clue what you expect your mouse to do. And I really am somewhat surprised that you seem to think that Linux does some things better, as I honestly did think that there was software for just about any and everything you may want on Windows, just that my needs are relatively modest, as I've already said, and Linux works for me. As you have never had a problem with drivers on Windows I didn't see why you would use Linux. But apparently you can question the fact that I have had problems with drivers on Windows, but I can't question your experience.

I'm not sure what you're problem is, other than that you came on here with an attitude that nothing HP does can be good, or that they owe you something, or who knows what, without initially explaining what you're talking about, which I disagreed with. As I said, Linux works great for me on equipment that Windows didn't, and I had no problem with HP drivers. Sorry you have a problem with that.

Clearly you weren't appreciative of my attempts to help either, I'll try not to make that mistake again. I think I can understand why if HP chose not to deal with you on their forum.

Edit: Actually, my first post was to question whether Palancar was in error when he said HP had nothing to do with the drivers that were available for Linux. But never mind, you can go back to believing what you want to believe without any regard for the facts.

 

Thanks for your lengthy post. It kinda proves my point. But anyways, we are starting to veer off-topic, so I think I am going to move on now.

 

You're welcome.

Sorry if it exceeded your attention span. I guess everything proves your point, just like when HP joins the Linux Foundation it proves they have no interest in Linux or serving consumers.

 

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