[sane-devel] MFP - Samsung SCX-4521F

[abel deuring]

Heiko Freundel wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> for the above mentioned MultiFunktionPrinter Samsung provides an Linux
> driver which should work with sane. This was a main reason for deciding
> for that MFP. I tried to use it with Ubuntu 10.0, but without success.
> 
> Samsung just wrote me, that the driver was not testet with Ubuntu :-(
> 
>  At http://www.sane-project.org I just found the information, that there
> is an untested version of the driver.

Where did you find this information? I just checked the page with
the list of scanners supported by the sane-backends package, and
could not find the word "Samsung". Only on the list of external
backends mentions Samsung. Additionally, I searched the current
source code from the CVS -- and found the SCX-4521F only in the
files describing external backends.

> 
> 1. How can Samsung have an driver and the sane-project has not?

well, anybody, individuals as well as companies and other
organizations, are free to write Sane backends as they want to do
so. And nobody is forced to contribute a Sane backend to the
"backend collection" from the Sane project. Moreover, a manufacturer
like Samsung has the advantage to have easy access to relevant
programming information for the scanners (I don't know, if Samsung
provides this kind of information to independent developers).

The Sane project will have "direct" support for Samsung devices only
if somebody starts the work on a special backend, or if some
scanner/MFP device turns out to be easily supportable by an existing
backend.

> 2. How can I get the untestet driver from the sane-project?

As written above: I'm afraid that there is no such driver/backend...

Abel