[JDEV] Jabber Printing Services

[mrugger at lexmark.com]

Hi,

I've been exploring an idea I have about expanding the GNU/Linux printing
architecture by making use of Jabber.  I'm currently writing up such a proposal
but I wanted to get some feedback first.

Basically, the purpose of this solution would be to obtain printer status from a
printer and to query printer capabilities and possibly submit print jobs
(amongst other possibilities).  There are currently other efforts going on to
solve these problems but I see a lot of potential in using Jabber for such a
purpose.  Additionally, these other efforts are not necessarily incompatible
with what I have in mind.  In fact, I see a Jabber solution enhancing them.

I know that's not enough to really get a complete feel for what I'm talking
about.  But right now I'm curious as to if there is any interest in the Jabber
development community concerning such a proposal?  I believe that the
client/server model of the Jabber architecture lends itself well to solving some
of these printing issues.  Also, I think that a set of printing services based
on Jabber would go a long way in proving how instant messaging, as architected
in Jabber, can solve a lot more problems than just instant messaging.

What do you think?

Thanks,

Marcus