Wednesday, July 5th, 2006
Canon – No Interest in Supporting Products on Linux
I received the following response in a support inquiry to Canon about their CanoScan 8400f (an awesome scanner btw). I emailed them asking if they had any beta drivers I could try out for using the scanner in Linux. Unfortunately Sane does not have support for this model… and apparently from what I’ve seen, Canon offers no help unlike HP, MicroTek, and others.
I’m torn because Canon has superior imaging/photo products but they absolutely refuse to support anything – even their high end photo printers – on Linux. It seems absurd to me especially when you factor in they do offer support and drivers for Windows 98 and Mac OS 9. I mean come on, how many users of these two platforms are still out there? I just noticed they even support Windows Me… are you kidding?
And with Gimp, Sane, ImageMagick, gPhoto, F-Spot, and a myriad of other open source apps that deal with imaging and photography, I have to imagine their are many more Linux users out there.
I haven’t looked at the latest IDC data, but my hunch is Apple is hovering near 2.0% of the desktop share and Linux at around 3.0%…
My bet is everyone’s waiting for Adobe to support Linux. They have Reader support but none of the other mainstream dev apps. The Linux desktop seems to be a major chicken-egg problem.
Anyway, here’s the amusing email I received from Canon support:
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Dear Mr. Dolan: Thank you for your reply. There are no known plans to develop drivers for the Linux operating system. I am sorry for any inconvenience caused by this. It is your choice what to do with the scanner. However, since Linux is open source, I would suggest searching the Internet to see if a driver has been developed. Please note that if there is one, Canon does not support it. Sincerely, Devin Technical Support Representative
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January 19th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Blork said:
Hello. I found this post because I’m on the verge of switching from XP to Ubuntu, and I’m digging around to make sure all of my stuff is supported.
So far so good, but I’ve hit a wall with my Canoscan 8400F. I’m writing this a year and a half after your post, but I’m wondering if you were able to make your scanner work. Thanks!
January 19th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
8400f Wanted said:
Also waiting… with Wine, this is my last stumbling block (for the most part, anyway…)
Anyone….?
April 9th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Jean Beaudet said:
Try VMWare Player (free and open source) with any version of Windows. You can use http://www.easyvmx.com/ to create your VM.
You can create virtual folders or better, use Samba to save the files wherever you want.
For USB auto-detection, please read http://jessedyer.blogspot.com/2007/11/ubuntu-vmware-and-usb.html.
I also wish that Canon would support Linux. This is the last canon scanner I will buy.
–
Jean
April 13th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Wilson said:
I am hunting in the web for support on my canon 3000ex but so far nothing fruitful. Might want to sale my canon for epson perhaps with better support in linux. My distro is Debian Etch.
I have been using Debian for a year and half now. As of now, I research into how well a brand support linux before i shell out for that product. All manufacturers should take heed!
April 13th, 2008 at 4:06 am
md said:
I agree completely – it’s not that hard for them to write a linux print driver… HP’s are the best for Linux support
April 24th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Tahir said:
I am waiting for some good guys to develop linux support for Canon Scanners. Otherwise I am through with my Canon scanner
May 3rd, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Tony said:
Also looking for a Canon 8400 driver for linux. I had luck using Virtualbox but would rather have a driver.
April 7th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Matt Callaghan said:
Same problems here. Unfortunately I didn’t do my research, and blindly purchase a new Canon LiDE 200 Scanner. Low and behold…. NO LINUX SUPPORT. Wow.
Their hardware has now become garbage without Linux support.
April 7th, 2009 at 10:00 am
md said:
I never got it to work myself… and honestly I haven’t checked if anyone else has figured it out recently. If you find a solution I’d love to know about it. I’ve stopped buying Canon peripherals – I added an HP scanner/printer to my portfolio that works just fine.
May 12th, 2010 at 8:29 am
pmb said:
I have a lide 200 and enjoyed using it on a windows laptop but since have blown out the OS and installed fedora 12. I now have to use vbox with a guest windows 7 OS to access the scanner. Once I ditch the scanner, it will be the last Canon I purchase for any purpose including cameras, printers and scanners. Shame on Canon and now to search for an HP product that I know will work natively in Linux.