plp: PD line printer spooler

[Robert E. Wargaski Jr.]

This is another chapter in the continuing saga of managing printer
resources in a large environment.  The following was sent to me by Henk
Langeveld, a fellow in the Netherlands.  Per his request, I am posting
this to the net.

Robert E. Wargaski Jr.              |   This is stupid. -- Vila
wargaski at ils.nwu.edu                |   When did that ever stop us. -- Avon
NU Distributed Systems Support      |   . . . #include <disclaimer.h> . . .

=====Forwarded message follows=====

Try plp:

One of the options is to define one queue with multiple
backends/unspoolers...  Please summarize any responses you get from the
net.  I'd like to know what other people use, and I think other people
will be interested in PLP as well.

              PLP - The Public Line Printer Spooler
               A Portable UNIX Line Printer Spooler
                     Release 3.0, 7 Nov. 1988
                       Prof. Patrick Powell
                    Dept. of Computer Science
         University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
     The Public Line Printer Spooler is a reverse engineered ver-
sion  of  the Berkeley LPD software, with extended functionality.
The PLP software has the following features:
1).The  PLP  software is intended to be  used in a Networked File
   System  (NFS)  environment,  in which there is a common set of
   spool  queues,  as well as in a loosely coupled environment in
   which each host transfers print jobs to a common host.
2).Access  and  permission  to use PLP functions is controlled by
   entries    in    a    printer   permissions   file   (one   of
   /usr/spool/lpd/printer_perms.<hostname>,   /etc/printer_perms,
   or  /usr/etc/printer_perms)  which  can  restrict  use by user
   name, host, spooler, page useage, and a host of other factors.
   The  printcap file (one of /usr/spool/lpd/printcap.<hostname>,
   /etc/printcap,  or  /usr/etc/printcap)  is used to specify the
   printer queues and their operation.
3).Jobs  can now be prioritized.  The maximum priority a user can
   specify is set in the printer permissions file.
4).In  addition  to  the  general  printer permissions file, each
   spool  queue  can  have  its  own addition printer permissions
   file.
5).Line  printer control functions can be exercised from a remote
   host.   Hosts  and  users  with remote control permissions are
   specified by entries in the printer permissions file.
6).The unspooling of jobs can be performed by a user defined pro-
   gram,  rather than the spooler.  This allows the spooler to be
   used  to send jobs to remote sites using various file transfer
   protocols.
7).Banner  printing  can be done either by the PLP software or by
   invoking user specified  programs.
8).Printer  support  packages such as Transcript (Adobe Software,
   Inc), and the CAP support for Appletalk Networks can be easily
   added  or  used  directly.   Compatibilty  interfaces with the
   Berkeley LPD software have been provided.
9).Extremely  verbose  and chatty error messages have been added.
   These  greatly  ease debugging and installation.  In addition,
   the  checkpc  utility  can be used to set file permissions and
   other items for use by the PLP software.
     PLP  may  be  copied and/or modified as long as the original
copyright notification is retained.

It is being distributed over the USENET in comp.sources.unix, or can
be FTPd (anonymous) from julius (128.101.230.1) in public/PLP.3.0.tar.Z