Mark Phillips wrote:

> My daughter’s school has a Windows/Novell network but they do not 
> allow/enable file and print sharing. All printers must be connected to a 
> print server of some sort, so they have a unique IP address.
> 
>  
> 
> A printer and an old p166 machine have been donated to her class, but 
> the printer is not “networkable” – it is an inexpensive inkjet printer – 
> a Compaq IJ300. I have Windows drivers, and according to 
> linuxprinting.org this printer does not work with Linux. It might work 
> with the Lexmark Z11 drivers…I have a Z11 and I tried the drivers and 
> the printing was not very good. The students are printing essays, 
> reports, (including images) so the printing needs to be of pretty good 
> quality (the Linux based Z11 printer output I managed to print was 
> really not very good).
> 
>  
> 
> The campus IT guy is really nice, very young, and his best advice is to 
> buy an HP printer and a Jetdirect print server and throw away the junk 
> that was donated.
> 
>  
> 
> 1. Is there any way to use Linux, the p166, and this printer to make a 
> workable printing solution (i.e. a printer server that allows the 
> students to share the printer)? __
> 
>  
> 
> 2. (I shudder to ask this on this list, so please do not flame me…I am 
> just trying to help out my daughter’s classroom!) If I install Windows 
> 98 on the p166, is there a way to configure it as a print server? This 
> would allow me to use the Windows drivers, which work quite well.

If it doesn't work under Linux then either do part of option 1, buy an HP or 
other inkjet that does work under linux, or install any version of Windows 
post-95 and enable File and Print sharing under Windows.  That will enable other 
Windows systems to access the printer, but still might not help from other OSes.