CUPS 3.0 Continues Being Crafted To Overhaul Linux Printing

Ever since OpenPrinting took over CUPS upstream from Apple, this widely-used, open-source print server has been back to having a vibrant future. CUPS development ceased at Apple and there wasn't much going on until last year when CUPS founder Michael Sweet and OpenPrinting provided new life to the project.

Since then they have been working on the CUPS 2.5 feature update and the big CUPS 3.0 overhaul. Michael Sweet took to Linux Plumbers Conference this week to reaffirm the work on CUPS 3.0 and the near-term 2.5 update. CUPS 2.5 continues working on OAuth2 / OpenID support, localization improvements, improved certificate management, and other features.

As it stands now, CUPS 2.5 is expected for release in May while beta(s) and release candidate(s) will come in the early months of 2023. Meanwhile the developers are looking at September 2023 for when CUPS 3.0 should reach its beta phase.

CUPS 3.0 is a major architecture overhaul with moving away from PPD files and just relying on IPP Everywhere, splitting local printing from network printing support, and various other design improvements.

The CUPS Local Server with CUPS 3.0 is a big enhancement with no longer needing to run a CUPS network/sharing server complete with web UI for this Linux printing solution. The sharing server will still be around and maintained though for those wanting that sharing/network support. The CUPS 3.0 library is also removing a number of existing deprecated APIs, various command changes, and other improvements.

Those wanting to learn more about the CUPS 3.0 (and 2.5) planning and other open-source printing happenings, there is Sweet's slide deck (PDF) as well as other OpenPrinting related presentations from the LPC micro-conference page.