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1. Embed this notice
   swagchen (s@freesoftwareextremist.com)'s status on Sunday, 08-Mar-2026 19:51:19 JST swagchen
   is there a cheap printer that doesn't suck?
   a while ago, i heard brother sold out, is this true?
   thank you for reading my blog post
   • Embed this notice
     翠星石 (suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com)'s status on Sunday, 08-Mar-2026 19:51:17 JST 翠星石

     in reply to
     @s No, all printers suck, no matter how cheap on expensive it is.
     
     Ink tank or laser printers that don't sabotage 3rd party ink or toner generally have lower printing costs than Horrible Products printers.
     
     Note that you must print all colours with an inkjet printer at least once a month, otherwise the print heads will irreversibly clog.
     
     The printer needs to support IPP for it to have a chance of sometimes working.
     
     HP laser toners are generally BW only and put garbage on the page after a few years and HP toner is very expensive.
   • Embed this notice
     翠星石 (suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com)'s status on Sunday, 08-Mar-2026 23:33:06 JST 翠星石

     in reply to

     • 聖騎士
     @deadheat @s Pen and paper - draw each pixel manually.
   • Embed this notice
     聖騎士 (deadheat@freesoftwareextremist.com)'s status on Sunday, 08-Mar-2026 23:33:07 JST 聖騎士

     in reply to

     • 翠星石
     @Suiseiseki @s How do I GNU/print?
   • Embed this notice
     Pi_rat (pi_rat@freesoftwareextremist.com)'s status on Sunday, 08-Mar-2026 23:34:41 JST Pi_rat

     in reply to

     • 翠星石
     • 聖騎士
     @deadheat @Suiseiseki @s GNUtenberg press
     翠星石 likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     翠星石 (suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com)'s status on Sunday, 08-Mar-2026 23:37:05 JST 翠星石

     in reply to

     • 聖騎士
     @deadheat @s Then you can make the printer run free software.
     
     Of course the proprietary hardware will fail.
   • Embed this notice
     聖騎士 (deadheat@freesoftwareextremist.com)'s status on Sunday, 08-Mar-2026 23:37:06 JST 聖騎士

     in reply to

     • 翠星石
     @Suiseiseki @s What if I develop my own GNU/printer?
   • Embed this notice
     翠星石 (suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com)'s status on Sunday, 08-Mar-2026 23:43:15 JST 翠星石

     in reply to

     • 聖騎士
     • waff
     @waff @deadheat @s There's nothing firm about software.
     
     Currently all available commercial printers run proprietary software, thus there is nothing to recommend.
     
     Kyocera printers can run free software, being designed to use GNU/Linux, but Kyocera doesn't comply with the licenses.
     
     The following printers can be printed to with only free software; https://h-node.org/printers/catalogue/en
     
     The same is true for any printer with a sometimes working IPP implementation, when it manages to work.
   • Embed this notice
     waff (waff@eientei.org)'s status on Sunday, 08-Mar-2026 23:43:17 JST waff

     in reply to

     • 翠星石
     • 聖騎士
     @Suiseiseki @deadheat @s can you name any printers that currently can run free software or have fsf approved firmware?