lprm bug empties files

[utzoo!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhtsa!alice!npoiv!houxm!hogpc!houti!pegasus!eby]

	A good lpr system in not that hard! I wonder why no one has done
	one?
					    Charles L. Perkins

Someone has.  The 'lp' subsystem in UNIX System III and V is quite a
bit better than 'lpr.'  In fact, 'lpr' is marked 'Obsolescent' in 5.0
manuals.  Although not bug-free, 'lp' handles removals correctly, and
provides other features such as easy addition/removal of printers from
the system, user-defined printer 'classes', status of print jobs,
customizable filters for different printers, provisions for hardwired
and dialup printers, etc.  It is also possible to customize the system
to do things such as:

	+ define printer destinations on remote machines
	+ define printer destinations which print at certain times of
	  day (e.g. late at night)
	+ define printer destinations for 'non-standard' printers.  For
	  example, we currently have an imagen as one of our destinations.
	  The filter takes care of handling the device-independent troff
	  input in the way this device expects.

The bad news: you probably have to get System III or V to use this.

					Robert Eby
					ucbvax!eagle!pegasus!eby