Gregory's Server
@Rasp @lapis given the increasing "internet of things" mentality... Yeah.
There's likely more stability in business and industrial models - like the behemoths you'll spot in college libraries, which are there to be workhorses driven long and driven hard. However home models are trending towards being more inconvenient and more about, well, delivering one user experience and that's about it. If you're someone who can immediately have everything work out when the Wi-Fi-only printer meets your network, and then the driver integration is similarly flawless, and all you really need is basic printing services... Then the one-size-fits-all model works. Any deviation from that - wanting a wired only connection to even just set up the printer, needing more complex types of printing which will demand that driver being up to snuff, having a computer that is somehow different to what is expected in some various specification including iOS - then it's a complete crapshoot and a whole lot of people lose.
Honestly you should be proud of your amazing luck there with having a reliable older model (that has not yet succumbed to planned obsolescence) that does what you need and has drivers that immediately work with your Linux setup. It is known that even in the best of times, Linux/Unix/etc is drivers hell. It's often eventually workable, if you have a computer science degree and know how to patch together your own fixes (and have the luxury of affording the time to spend troubleshooting this and finding the fix). Sometimes the solution is relatively easy and starts with "open W.I.N.E.", sometimes the solution is "there is no solution, have fun". And that's honestly often for fairly basic printing needs half the time; the more complex the job, the more that support sharply drops off from both official drivers and people problem-solving in online communities.
Basically you've led a very charmed life in that respect lol, because even though brother printers are ones I generally prefer and have the least amount of problems with, well, the problems still very much exist and are incredibly widespread as to become a cultural touchstone level joke (as illustrated in the comic that lapis shared). Thank the universe for your good fortune and know that you don't need to be skeptical about it because this indeed does exist lol.
@Rasp @lapis ofc I say that but from what I remember of my mom's complaints from her career doing digital typesetting and graphic design while I was growing up, as well as things like the printer being finicky at a high school summer job... This isn't really a new problem. Part of it is just endemic problems to the format. You need a lot of small gears and such, plus either high heat or ink that is going through very small nozzles that are easy to clog, etc etc. Same sort of pattern has happened to sewing machines, really. Plastic as a material has its limits, and other materials are often much more expensive, plus the designs need to do more and more mechanically as more features are added. Affordable, solid construction that is not meant to fail or wear out, or fully featured: pick any two, because all three is impossible.
Given the problems I also remember my mother having with things like "the urgent update for the driver is released for Macintosh first and windows will get it in a few weeks", back when Macs were absolutely preferred for graphics design work... Well, it's likely been even worse for Linux historically.
That's why it's become an established cultural joke of how printers will give up on you at the most inconvenient time possible and are generally ornery bastards. Only gets worse when the printer isn't just a printer but also a copier, fax, etc... Roll the relevant movie clip lol https://youtu.be/_KinUMIS3Yc
Basically, I congratulate you on your extraordinarily good luck, but do not doubt that things like the comic lapis posted arise from genuine problems that other people have even if you might not lol
@Rasp @lapis ofc I say that but from what I remember of my mom's complaints from her career doing digital typesetting and graphic design while I was growing up, as well as things like the printer being finicky at a high school summer job... This isn't really a new problem. Part of it is just endemic problems to the format. You need a lot of small gears and such, plus either high heat or ink that is going through very small nozzles that are easy to clog, etc etc. Same sort of pattern has happened...