Quote Originally Posted by beforewisdom
I have never had a printer......ever.

The thought of getting a printer working on linux sounds scarey, but I can afford it now, I hate reading dense tech material online, and I have a lot to read.

How easy is it to get a printer working with knoppix.....both using the KDE or not using the KDE?

What are the issues that I should look out for when selecting a printer?
RULE #1 - Buy a TRUE HARDWARE based printer. A printer that supports NATIVELY - HP PCL and/or Adobe PostScript lanquages.

Many of the inkjet printers from Lexmark, Brother etc. are wimprinters, printers that DEPEND on wimpdoze to operate and will not function at all or with out a some work in Linux/Knoppix. Some will work under Linux using ghostsript, read more below.

Got a printer and not sure if its supports Linux?

Check: http://www.linuxprinting.org check your printer on the list to determine its support. Ths site also has pointers on what wimpdoze printers can be tricked into working.

I personally use a Lexmark Optra+ laser on an EdiMax printer server on my HLAN. The Lexmark supports HP-PCL and PostScript in hardware so is easily setup in Linux.

Setup is very similar to the wimpdoze mode for the most part, as far as KDE is concerned. If you plan to use Linux more in the CLI then a PCL or PostScript based printer would be best.