What's the difference? Multiple versions of the same printer appearing in CUPS

Question

On a local network, in my CUPS admin page, when I try to add a network printer, each printer shows up multiple times:

For example, the Lexmark T644 appears:

*Lexmark T644 (2) (Lexmark Lexmark T644)

*Lexmark T644 79116M5 LS.ST.P239

I have another printer that appears three times:

*hp color LaserJet 5550 [FCEC3D] (hp hp color LaserJet 5550)

*hp color LaserJet 5550 [FCEC3D]

*hp color LaserJet 5550 (HP color LaserJet 5550)

Why does the same printer appear multiple times, and what is the difference?

Answer 1

It's not the printer device model that appears multiple times: it's the available printer drivers which may work with your printer model.

These driver names may represent different versions or may originate from different driver providers, which are not necessarily the manufacturer of your printer model, but some open source project. Known providers for open source printer drivers are the Linux Foundation/OpenPrinting project or the GutenPrint (formerly GimpPrint) project.

The listings on the CUPS web admin page are auto-generated: it's based on a function which scans all the locations on your systems where CUPS may find a "driver" (really, a PPD file) for the model.

This same function can be invoked in a terminal by running this CUPS command:

 lpinfo -l -m

This will at the same time reveal the (relative) path to the PPD used by the printer "driver".

Now what's the difference?

All these drivers may work equally well for your model. Or they may work to various degrees. Or they may provide a different set of print options.

The only person to find out is YOU: by testing them, one by one...