I have recently installed KDE 4 on an Ubuntu Server system. One thing that I have noticed is that printing is not installed on KDE 4. This is due to the printing system’s port to KDE 4 is incomplete.
This is how to install printing, and make it work, on an Ubuntu installation with KDE 4.
I use a terminal to install my applications, since the provided KPackage seems to have a problem with “sudo” verification.
To install printing, type “sudo apt-get install kdeprint”.
You can also use aptitude to perform the same task, just search for the “kdeprint” package. KDE 3 libraries will be installed, and KDE print will work flawlessly if everything goes well. The only problem I ran into was having to download my printer driver from the open printing project, courtesy of the Linux Foundation. This is not such a bad thing, since they have the latest-and-greatest drivers available. They come as a .ppd file, and when you reach the point where you choose your printer driver in kdeprint, choose the file you downloaded.
If you want to use a shared printer on a network, make sure you install the Samba software, which is listed in the “suggested packages” list when you use apt-get or aptitude. You might also install some of the suggested packages, although they are not needed, they can improve your printing experience.
Here’s a screenshot of my printer, shown as available in KWord 2.0:
Update:
After searching the web for other people who have used KDE 3’s printing service on KDE 4, and unfortunately it looks as if few have had success. I have had some success, but my printer was not working quite as well as I had hoped. Hopefully things like printing will be fixed soon.
