Proposal: Create a Unified Legacy-Printer-App

Background

Currently, legacy printer support is split across multiple printer applications (e.g., ghostscript-printer-app, ps-printer-app, etc.) that handle different printing stacks. While this separation might make sense from a development perspective, it could create unnecessary complexity for end users who have to figure out which printing backend their legacy device uses (an implementation detail) as opposed to picking a make and a model from the printer setup menu (current CUPS 2.x experience).

Proposed Solution

Create a unified legacy-printer-app that consolidates existing printer applications into a single solution. Key features:

• Single entry point for bridging legacy printer support, the "xwayland" or "pipewire-pulse" analog for printing.
• Internal handling of different printing stacks, where users select legacy printers by brand and model.

Benefits

1. For users: Reduce confusion during CUPS 3.x transition, simplified printer setup process.

2. For development: Consolidated codebase, reducing duplication/maintenance overhead.

3. For packaging: Less packages to track/release/maintain.

While the unified Snap/Docker container may be slightly larger in size, most dependencies already overlap between current apps, resulting in a minimal size increase if any.

Start by reviewing the existing ghostscript-printer-app, ps-printer-app, and other legacy printer applications to map the printing stacks they support. Define the scope of a unified entry point, including brand-and-model selection and internal stack handling. Done means the proposed legacy-printer-app approach and its packaging implications are sufficiently specified for implementation.