Free Standards Group Launches New Project; OpenPrinting Workgroup Will Address Critical Need for Standardized Printing Architecture.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 8, 2002

The Free Standards Group has launched a new workgroup aimed at creating a standardized, scalable printing architecture and high-level requirements for printing systems. The OpenPrinting Workgroup is open to both industry and community participants to address the needs of desktop to enterprise-ready printing, including management, reliability, security, scalability, printer feature access and network accessibility.

"OpenPrinting brings together both the leading free software developers and printer vendors," said Scott McNeil, Free Standards Group executive director. "By having the right parties creating standards using open source methodologies and implementations, we believe OpenPrinting will fulfill the promise of enhancing Linux printing capabilities for both desktop and enterprise users alike."

The OpenPrinting Workgroup is in the process of creating a series of modular standards that can be used individually or as a group, depending on the end users' needs. This approach allows for true scalability of features that include security, automated device discovery, printer access control and automated enabling of printing resources across a network.

Shawn Pratt, Project Manager at Hewlett-Packard, Inc. has been named as Interim Workgroup Chair of the OpenPrinting Workgroup. Mr. Pratt is in charge of leading the creation of a roadmap for the standards, which will encompass the needs of individual users, networks from large to small, Internet printing and mobile devices.

"Linux has successfully penetrated the server computing space and is rapidly making inroads into the client computing space as well," said Shawn Pratt, OpenPrinting Workgroup Chair. "Given this new success, having a set of comprehensive standards for printing architecture and requirements being developed with input from both community and industry is important to the continued growth of Linux. There is a great deal of interest in printing, and for good reason. Printing capabilities are a cornerstone for any computer system."

Printing standards for Linux ensure that Linux and Linux-based software will have the structure necessary to address the advanced needs of enterprise-level printing needs, creating yet another indispensable tool for Linux. Information on the OpenPrinting Workgroup and how to join can be found at www.freestandards.org/openprinting.

About the Free Standards Group

Supported by industry leaders, the Free Standards Group is an independent, vendor-neutral, non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the use and acceptance of open source technologies through the development, application and promotion of standards. Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., the Free Standards Group fulfills a critical need in the open source development community to have common behavioral specifications, tools and APIs, making development across Linux distributions easier. More information on the Free Standards Group is available at www.freestandards.org.