[sane-devel] TWAIN 2.0 targetting Linux

[Brian J Densmore]

Julien BLACHE wrote:

>Stéphane VOLTZ <stefdev at modulonet.fr> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>	I believe this is a great thing. Some time in the future, people will be able 
>>to bought scanner with the software to have it run immediatly under linux. It 
>>is what most people (including me) want. A good point for the so-called 
>>'linux desktop'.
>>    
>>
>
>And you're completely WRONG.
>
>What drivers are you going to get with your scanner for Linux ?
>Binary-only i386 crappy proprietary drivers written in C++ ?
>
>1. this won't help non-i386 users
>2. there are no TWAIN applications for Linux (yet)
>3. C++ means the drivers *WILL* be broken at some point by an ABI
>   change (because, yes, that's going to happen AGAIN).
>4. as the drivers will basically go unmaintained after a year, and the
>   source won't be released anyway, you'll be stuck with an unusable
>   scanner.
>
>Looks like an improvement to me, indeed. Did you read the code Mustek
>sent to Henning ? No ? You should. That's what you'll get with your
>scanner.
>
>  
>
I tend to agree with the previous poster, this will be a good thing.
Not all proprietary drivers are crappy.  Secondly, it's a step in the right
direction. Expanded support for Linux isn't a bad thing. The drivers are,
as you have noted, likely to be tied to a particular kernel/lib version 
of Linux.
The drivers are also likely to be written specifically to a limited 
number of
distros. While this is not likely to be helpful to many, it may be a 
starting point
from which FOSS TWAIN applications can be written. As far as point 4 
goes, there is
nothing preventing anyone from having an alternate boot image for the 
older supported
Linux version. At least then you'd be able to reboot to do your 
scanning. Were Canon to
make a proprietary Linux driver for my 8400F (be still my heart), I'd 
download it
in a flash.

I welcome the day I can, buy a scanner and plug it in and have it work. 
I don't care
if it is proprietary. As long as it works and doesn't trash my system. 
Maybe it's time
someone works on making TWAIN applications for Linux? Me I'm too busy 
trying to
modify the gl841 driver to support a CanoScan 8400F at max resolution 
with the
transparency options, since no one seems to be working on it and the 
current developers
haven't responded to my queries. Just so I can scan in some 70 year old 
medium format
negatives.