How Linux Works

Print Clients

There are two traditional clients that send data to a print server:

lpr

This is the matching client for Berkeley LPD-based servers. Associated programs include lpq (to view the current printer job queue) and lprm (to remove a job from the queue).

lp

Both CUPS and System V lpsched use the lp interface to print (CUPS also has limited lpr capability). The lpstat command shows printer jobs, and cancel removes a print job.

On traditional Linux systems, you send a PostScript job to the printer named printer with a command like this (you do not need -Pprinter if you want to send the job to the default printer):

lpr -Pprinter file

For CUPS, you may also use the lp program (-d printer is optional if you are sending to the default printer):

 lp ...