If you have problems with the printer, feel free to ask questions on a separate thread. I haven't had a problem with printing from Linux in years, both with HP inkjets and a Brother Laserjet. I am still considering dual booting my Mac, just because I really like Linux and have used it since it was installed via multiple floppy disks.
Linux does that for ages - given there's a driver aka kernel module available for your peripheral. Unfortunately that still isn't always the case, because most vendors/oem only provide drivers for Windows/Apple and keep specs of their chips/peripherals closed (aka proprietary) - sometimes the open source/Linux wizards manage to reverse engineer them, but that takes time and lots of trial n error and often isn't perfect. So it's always a good idea to look up if a piece of hardware is supported by Linux, before buying it.
Current versions are generally plug and play, in my experience. I used to run Mint, which is based off Ubuntu, which is based off of Debian (the number of distros is actually a downside, in my opinion). I it has been years since a Linux OS I have used didn't detect my printer, an external hard drive, an SD card, etc. That doesn't mean it can't happen. I have a headset at work that my Windows Ten laptop just can't seem to get right. They also have GUI tools for everything these days, such as adding users, changing passwords, adding hardware, etc.
I really liked using Linux distros in the past when it was easy to install alongside W7. Just making sure that if I install it with W10 or W11, I don't mess it upas it's different now. Now trying some new distros on virtualbox.
I think the lack of recommendation for newbies is the difficulty to install and set up. Note that I've never actually used Debian.
Some multifunction printers and some scanners can still be a little bit of a problem depending how new they are. but in general anything that connects by USB is plug and play these days. HP is definitely one of the better brands for Linux as is Epson. HP often provides their own Linux drivers and software for their equipment.
You've probably tried it already, but in case you haven't Google it and there may be a workaround. Or try to set up Wi-Fi printing assuming your printer supports it. Also, might be an issue with virtualbox recognizing or being allowed to access the peripherals.
I have an Epson ET-4800 printer. I might have to plug the printer to my laptop, even though my printer is set up for wireless. KDE automatically recognized my wi-fi connection. Samba didn't recognize it.
I'm thinking it's virtualbox, can't find any fix for it anywhere. So I'll just keep trying out distros to see what I want to dual boot with windows.
Thanks for all the help everyone! I found out tonight that a friend of mine and his wife are well acquainted with Linux as she has been running it for years. Believe I'll grab some beer and steaks one weekend and pay him and her a little visit.
Linux is often better as long as the device is supported (and most things are). My HP LaserJet works better with Linux than it does with Windows or MacOS. With Windows some devices require you to install drivers before plugging the device in. Linux usually just works with no need to install drivers. The drivers are already included in the kernel.
Not sure why you want to involve Samba here - Samba is usually used to provide Linux services/resources to Windows clients via smb protocol - unless you want to access windows resources, but then you just use samba-client-apps/samba-client-libraries, not the whole Samba suite/server- which shouldn't be necessary if it's a network-printer anyway. Linux uses CUPS which was bought by Apple in 2007 (so they use CUPS as the printing system for MacOS as well, obviously). To use the printer/scanner in Linux directly you need to install its driver and then add it via CUPS first. First check with "dmesg" (as root) after you plugged in the printer, if it's recognized at all. Then you have to install the proprietary printer drivers it seems. Unpack the archive with "tar -zxvf archivename" - most desktop environments like KDE or Gnome should let you unpack it via context menu (right mouse button). Unfortunately it seems you need to build the package for your target architecture yourself (.deb for debian based or .rpm for RedHat based distributions). In the main folder type " After building and installing the packe you can add the printer on the command line via "lpadmin" (see README) or by using CUPS' web interface: https://localhost:631/ (works in MaxOS as well btw). KDE and Gnome also provide a GUI frontend for CUPS in their "system settings". Edit: Instead of building the package which is probably just a bunch of PPD files for CUPS anyway (which are copied to the right location when installing the package), you can simply select the right PPD file for your printer within CUPS interface when adding a new printer (see point "4.2.2 Add a printer" in the README).
CUPS I've used in the past and never got it working correctly. I was just going through the list of options. I couldn't find any way online to make a printer work wirelessly for Linux while in Virtualbox. No big deal as I was just trying out newer Distros that I never tried before. And if I read correctly, Ubunto is easier to dual boot with W10 because you don't have to disable secure boot. And my favorite part, I don't have to manually partition the C drive, just size it. Just let the installation process do it, like when I used to dual boot with W7 in the past. Leaning towards Ubunto KDE Plasma.
Since you're talking about dual booting, I seem to remember there was a windows program that I think was called Ubi which would allow you to install and run a Linux environment just like a regular Windows exe. So you would boot into windows and then double-click on ubi and you would be running Ubuntu. Not sure if this program is still being maintained or not. Edit: wubi is the correct name. https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/914...-linux-with-windows-using-the-wubi-installer/
I remembered the name and had to look it up. Supposedly it wouldn't work in W8 because of UEFI, and some say only for dual booting in W10. But some people say in can work in W10. Something to do more research on.
Well if you get bored, it's something to install and try. It'll either run or it won't. So nothing to lose I suppose.
I am a bit late to the conversation as I just joined The Shave Den tonight (and this is my first post) but I thought I would chime in for others who may be looking to get started in Linux. I have been using Linux for a few decades. I have multi-boot setups on my computers using multiple partitions, each having different Linux distributions. I have tried quite a few distributions over the years. I think first time Linux installers run into issues as some of their hardware (network/WiFi cards for example) are built for Windows and expect to use part of the Windows OS to function. So when they try installing Linux, so things don't work out of the box. I usually pull down a Linux distribution and install the image on a DVD or thumb drive and run the distribution without installing it first to see if it will work with my hardware. There are many Linux distributions. Some are very light weight and can be used on really old computers to make them useful again. Some distributions are specialized for specific purposes such as music and video production, for example. So having many distributions can make it confusing to start out, but knowing that there is a distribution out there that you can run on just about anything can give new life to old hardware. Distrowatch is a good place to learn more about the different distributions that are available. The LinuxQuestions site tends to maintain a hardware compatibility list which can be helpful when purchasing gear or seeing if what you have is compatible with Linux. For new Linux installers, I usually point them to Linux Mint as it has a good installer and doesn't require a lot of detailed knowledge to use. At the same time, it also has advanced features that experienced users can use to control how and where things are installed (such as spreading the installation across partitions, choosing where to install the boot loader, etc.). The last time I installed Linux Mint, the distribution had no problems finding my networked printer. I still use Linux Mint as one of my main distributions for general purpose use.
