Since I’ve become a Linux user, I’ve become more appreciative of software and hardware that “just works.” And I really appreciate companies that realize there are more OSes than Winders or MacOS. So here’s a big cheer for Brother for being one of those companies.

When my mom got her Winders Vista laptop, dad gave me their Minolta QMS 1250W since it didn’t work with Vista. (Oddly enough, the “W” stands for Winders.) When I upgraded from XP to Ubuntu 9.04, I was pleased to note that the Minolta worked just fine with Linux. Hilarious that a machine with a “W” for Winders couldn’t work with Winders Vista but could work with Linux.

However, when I was printing something off about a month ago, I had forgotten that there was a little plastic package of stand-offs sitting on my printer. And sure enough, the plastic package was pulled into my printer. I managed to get 3 of the 4 stand-offs out of it, and most of the (now melted) plastic bag. But it was still sticking during print. When ol’ Doc Short took a look at it (he fixed more of those suckers than a Minolta repair man, I’m sure) he declared it dead. (Well, the drum was dead, but the cost to replace it was more than a typical laser printer.)

It was nice while it lasted, but now I needed a new printer. So a couple nights ago, I scouted out the ideal replacement. First and foremost, it had to be networkable. With my laptops oot & aboot, an IP addy on this sucker would be ideal. The Brother HL-2170W (with the “W” meaning Wireless this time, I believe) seemed to fit the bill. But would it work with Linux? Linux users said “yes!”

It arrived, to my great surprise, today. Hell, I feel like I ordered the sucker last night, but it must have been a few nights ago. I imagine the high yield toner cartridge, which I ordered the same night, will arrive Monday.

Although the CD didn’t have the Linux drivers, they were easy enough to find on Brother’s website. And though the directions for install eventually went cryptic, I found that when I added the printer via Ubuntu’s Printers program, it showed up on the network and installed like a dream. Sweet! Plus I can navigate to its IP address and see all kinds of fun stuff about the printer.

So now I’ve got a laser printer again. Now if I just had something I needed to print… (Oh, and an extra bonus? The paper tray is concealed, so I probably won’t be pulling plastic bags o’ shit through it like with the Minolta.)