Google Kills Cloud Print
support.google.com
Google Kills Cloud Print
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Re: Google Kills Cloud Print
#2Good news: they give you a year to transition.
Bad news: you'll have to buy a new printer if it doesn't play nicely with CUPS.
Google really is the land of the walking-dead projects.
Re: Google Kills Cloud Print
#3I'm confused on what the replacement is. Historically, ChromeOS hasn't been able to print at all unless using Google Cloud Print in some form. To my knowledge there are two existing forms:
* a Google Cloud Print-ready printer, or
* a computer that can run Chrome and bridge non-Google Cloud Print-ready printers to Google Cloud Print.[0]
So the ancient WPS printer in my garage is entirely unsupported without deploying a computer running Windows or macOS, installing Chrome, and registering a "classic printer". To combat this, I made a simple Python script that runs an HTTP server, accepts file uploads, assumes cupsd is running on the same host, and throws jobs at my printer. This has worked nicely, and over time I've added additional features, such as the ability to specify double-sided printing or number of copies.
The wording in this link is the source of my confusion. The first paragraph states (somewhat brusquely) that users should "identify an alternative solution and execute a migration strategy" without giving any suggestions on how this might best be accomplished. What's more, the first link[1] on the page claims "native printing" is getting better, but upon clicking this link I'm directed to a page about Chrome Enterprise.
So... what am I supposed to make of this? I have to pay for an enterprise edition of ChromeOS to use printers now? Google's own infographics[2] seem to suggest so. How is this an improvement? The article goes on to bullet-point several of the specific features that will be available by end-of-year. It's not clear if these apply to everybody, or to only those persons who are paying for Chrome Enterprise.
Why is CUPS gimped so badly on ChromeOS? What is Google angling for by intentionally crippling software and systems that work _perfectly fine_ elsewhere?
I will keep on trucking with my tiny "print proxy" script, while continuing to not give a shit about Google's inane antics regarding printers.
The only saving grace for this article is the very last link[3] which appears to detail a _suspiciously_ simple process for adding a networked printer. I'll have to commandeer my wife's Chromebook the next time I get a chance, and test this process out. I've never seen this particular article before, and to my knowledge adding a printer like this was previously not a supported operation on ChromeOS.
Hang on, though. We're not out of the woods yet. Because of course, the only helpful page I've found so far links[4] to _yet more instructions_ for adding a native printer. The first step is "sign into some Google service" and the steps seem geared towards an "organizational unit". No. Not happening. What the hell is all this? I just want to add a local printer. I'm not sending print jobs to Google first, and I don't want support articles that assume I'm administering an organization.
[0] https://support.google.com/cloudprint/answer/1686197 (see also the header "Connect a printer that’s not cloud-ready")
[1] https://www.blog.google/products/chrome-enterprise/chrome-en...
[2] https://www.blog.google/topics/connected-workspaces/introduc... (image a bit of the way down. IDKWTF "printer management" is supposed to mean but it seems like something I'd want)
[3] https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7225252
[4] https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7276100?hl=en&ref...
Re: Google Kills Cloud Print
#4Wow, that's a real shame, because Google Cloud Print was one of those nice little services that did ONE THING amazingly. I loved that I could print stuff from anywhere and it would be sitting on my printer when I got home.
If I am working at a coffee shop, or out of town and bought something that needed to print a receipt, or a confirmation, or anything else. I could print it through Google Cloud Print and it would be ready and printed for me when I got home. It was just a nice convenience that worked every time.
Yes there are alternatives... most printers now have an obfusticated email address that you can send to and it will print from. But this is vendor specific and unreliable and required additional steps (had to save to computer, then open an email client, send an email, etc).
But then again, how can I be surprised? We are talking about Google, the company famous for shutting down projects. I wouldn't be surprised if I wake up tomorrow and they shut down google.com search engine. Right now on Hacker News (just a few spots above this post) is a another site [1], which hosts a countdown for when customers expect to shut down the Google Stadia product... a product that only launched a few days ago.
Re: Google Kills Cloud Print
#5I'm confused on what the replacement is. Historically, ChromeOS hasn't been able to print at all unless using Google Cloud Print in some form. To my knowledge there are two existing forms: * a Google Cloud Print-ready printer, or * a computer that can run Chrome and bridge non-Google Cloud Print-ready printers to Google Cloud Print.[0] So the ancient WPS printer in my garage is entirely unsupported without deploying…
> I'm confused on what the replacement is.
There isn't one (assuming you don't use ChromeOS).
Google is saying: "We're killing this. Find something else."
Re: Google Kills Cloud Print
#6Add that to the Google Cemetary.
Re: Google Kills Cloud Print
#7Wow, that's a real shame, because Google Cloud Print was one of those nice little services that did ONE THING amazingly. I loved that I could print stuff from anywhere and it would be sitting on my printer when I got home. If I am working at a coffee shop, or out of town and bought something that needed to print a receipt, or a confirmation, or anything else. I could print it through Google Cloud Print and it would b…
Wait did you just say you liked a google service and they killed it? HA! Welcome to the world.
Google services always find a great niche. The problem is google wants MAJOR hits or bust.
Re: Google Kills Cloud Print
#8I wish Google could at least release the code of killed projects as opensource.
Re: Google Kills Cloud Print
#9I can see why people will miss it, but cloud print is always on my short list of things I remove/disable when setting up a phone. How many average people still own/need a printer often enough to not just go use one at the library/kinkos?
Re: Google Kills Cloud Print
#10Of all the free services to kill, this one really hurts. I just got my parents migrated to using Cloud Print with their Chromebooks and iStuff. As I am providing the usual family-plan IT advice from several timezones away, Cloud Print solved the biggest headache of getting their current project printed to their house or office from wherever they are (or me, if I am helping them). Supporting local printers was a time sink, and remote printing is the logical complement to cloud applications. It seems shortsighted to give it up when there is no real competition in this space AFAICT.