GNU/Linux Desktop Survival Guide by Graham Williams
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Using rlpr to Print on Remote Hosts

A collection of Debian machines can be serviced by a remote printer server running a printer daemon lpd. A simple approach to printing is then to install rlpr. This provides the commands rlpr, rlpq, and rlprm. They can be used as replacements for the usual lpr, lpq, and lprm commands. You can make these ``aliases'' permanent by linking them into /usr/local/bin as in:

  # cd /usr/local/bin
  # ln -s /usr/bin/rlpr  lpr
  # ln -s /usr/bin/rlpq  lpq
  # ln -s /usr/bin/rlprm lprm

To specify the pinter on which to print you need to include in the printer name the print server host, as in [email protected]. This can be improved on by creating a /etc/rlprrc file with something like:

  artz.togaware.com: lp1 lp1nd lp5 lp5t lp7 lp9

Make sure the protections on the file allow everyone to read the file. Then when specifying a printer, simply mention its name, as in -Plp1 or set the PRINTER environment variable to "lp1".