Timeline for Are questions about interfacing with printers on topic?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
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| Nov 26, 2016 at 11:21 | comment | added | fixer1234 | @Malcolm, actually, the same thing could well have happened here. There's nothing obvious in the question that points to Bonjour. In fact, I suspect that the downvotes the question received were probably because there was no obvious answer flowing from the facts presented. If you hadn't dug into it (and maybe stumbled across the solution?), it might have gone unanswered here. Anyway, glad you posted the solution. It may save others a lot of work. | |
| Nov 26, 2016 at 11:09 | comment | added | Malcolm | I agree with what you say, but I think that if I were asking just this question on Android Enthusiasts without self-answering, the question would most likely just be unanswered as, like I said, that site lacks the right kind of experts who know how printers interface with other devices, not necessarily Android phones. I even looked through all the 34 questions tagged "printing" there, none of them talk about setting up a printer so that it's visible on the network. At best they deal with setting up cloud printing and only from the phone side, which is completely different. | |
| Nov 26, 2016 at 10:56 | comment | added | fixer1234 | Here, phones are off-topic unless the computer is involved. So framing the question as a phone problem makes it off-topic unless you show a computer connection. A printer doesn't make the phone on-topic; the phone makes the printer off-topic, because it defines the problem as not computer-related. So for your problem to be on-topic here, the phone has to be basically irrelevant, which it is in this case. The problem is about accessing a network printer from any computer, and the phone happens to fall into the same boat. To frame your question in an on-topic way, that needs to be clear. | |
| Nov 26, 2016 at 10:55 | comment | added | fixer1234 | @Malcolm, on any site, the key is asking the question framed in a way that's on-topic for the site. The solution may turn out to be something outside of the site's core focus. On the Android site, trying to accomplish something with an Android device is generally on topic. The solution can turn out to be something non-Android, but other Android users may have run into the same situation and know how to solve it. So there, you frame the problem as needing to print from an Android device to a network printer and let the solution fall where it may. (cont'd) | |
| Nov 26, 2016 at 10:17 | comment | added | Malcolm | There are many questions regarding printing from Android devices there, but they are mostly asking how to set up an Android device to print correctly (which app to download, how to use it, etc.). In my case, I've already set it up correctly, so there's nothing to ask regarding Android in particular. That website just doesn't have the right kind of experts. As for printers, I assumed that they are on topic here as they are peripherals. Maybe I misunderstood something. | |
| Nov 26, 2016 at 10:08 | comment | added | fixer1234 | @Malcolm, a question about setting up the printer would be off-topic there. Asking about a problem accessing a network printer from your phone would probably be on-topic. Out of curiosity, I checked the Android site, and there are a whole bunch of questions about printing from an Android device to a network printer. So it appears to be on-topic there if you approach it from the perspective of accomplishing something with the phone. On Super User, that perspective was what made your question appear off-topic, even though the problem turned out not to relate to the phone. | |
| Nov 26, 2016 at 9:46 | vote | accept | Malcolm | ||
| Nov 26, 2016 at 9:45 | comment | added | Malcolm | I believe it's worded better now. Bonjour is a service for LAN device and service discovery, so I happened to need it only for Android, but it could've been required by some computers also. There is nothing Android-specific in this service, moreover, it was designed by Apple. I doubt that the problem would be on topic on Android Enthusiasts, it's specific to the particular printer, and at a quick glance in there I can only see the questions regarding how to set up a smartphone to print, but not a printer. | |
| Nov 26, 2016 at 3:18 | history | edited | fixer1234 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Nov 26, 2016 at 2:57 | history | edited | fixer1234 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Nov 26, 2016 at 2:40 | history | answered | fixer1234 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |