Step 2: Connect a Local Printer
After you’ve got your printer set, you’ll want to connect it to your Linux system. The two most common methods used to connect local printers are
| ✓ | Parallel port: Using a special 25-pin printer cable |
| ✓ | USB port: Using a standard USB cable connector |
Most modern printers now use USB cables. The USB system provides many benefits that were missing from the older parallel printer cable method.
When you plug a printer into your Fedora Linux system with a USB cable, Fedora automatically detects the printer make and model and creates a printer device for you. You can start printing without doing any work of your own.
However, if you plug a printer into your Fedora Linux system with a parallel printer cable, nothing happens. You have to manually configure the printer in the system before you can use it (ugh).
In either case, it’s a good idea to look at the system printer configuration first to ensure that your printer is set up properly. That’s the next step.
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