Ubuntu 11.04 will automatically download and install the correct Epson driver for your Epson printer upon connecting it to your computer.
Users of Epson printers on Linux have, until now, been advised to manually download and install drivers from the AVASYS website.
From Ubuntu 11.04 onwards simply ‘plugging’ in one of over 268 Epson inkjet printer models launched since 2005 will initiate installation of the correct driver.
Epson’s Ikuaki Kitabayashi said: “We continually strive to make printers easier to use, so we are very pleased to be able to provide this convenient automatic printer driver download service to Linux users.”
Till Kamppeter of the OpenPrinting project hopes that this move will lead to other hardware manufacturers adopting similarly styled automatic driver downloading services, believing that if they do ‘…Linux can become one of the easiest to use operating systems.