My college used to charge 2 bucks (Indian rupees @ $1=Rs 45) per page for printing to to the laser printer. So I connected the printer to a linux box, shared it through samba, hacked the sample printer accounting script to pick up print job information from postscript print jobs.

The printer log now stores username, file name, date and time, and number of pages printed on the HP LJ6 MP. I have a secondary script that verifies the log file for errors. (Acrobat doesn't generate all necessary headers). And one last script that extracts print information per user, creates a formatted mail containing all print job information for that period, as well as the bill,and mails all users at one go.

Since it's so accurate, print job costs are now only Rs 1.25. Students happy. Perl keeps on rocking. if you want my scripts, mail me at nikhild@usa.net