I'm confused on what the replacement is. Historically, ChromeOS hasn't been able to print at all unless using Google Cloud Print in some form. To my knowledge there are two existing forms:

* a Google Cloud Print-ready printer, or

* a computer that can run Chrome and bridge non-Google Cloud Print-ready printers to Google Cloud Print.[0]

So the ancient WPS printer in my garage is entirely unsupported without deploying a computer running Windows or macOS, installing Chrome, and registering a "classic printer". To combat this, I made a simple Python script that runs an HTTP server, accepts file uploads, assumes cupsd is running on the same host, and throws jobs at my printer. This has worked nicely, and over time I've added additional features, such as the ability to specify double-sided printing or number of copies.

The wording in this link is the source of my confusion. The first paragraph states (somewhat brusquely) that users should "identify an alternative solution and execute a migration strategy" without giving any suggestions on how this might best be accomplished. What's more, the first link[1] on the page claims "native printing" is getting better, but upon clicking this link I'm directed to a page about Chrome Enterprise.

So... what am I supposed to make of this? I have to pay for an enterprise edition of ChromeOS to use printers now? Google's own infographics[2] seem to suggest so. How is this an improvement? The article goes on to bullet-point several of the specific features that will be available by end-of-year. It's not clear if these apply to everybody, or to only those persons who are paying for Chrome Enterprise.

Why is CUPS gimped so badly on ChromeOS? What is Google angling for by intentionally crippling software and systems that work _perfectly fine_ elsewhere?

I will keep on trucking with my tiny "print proxy" script, while continuing to not give a shit about Google's inane antics regarding printers.

The only saving grace for this article is the very last link[3] which appears to detail a _suspiciously_ simple process for adding a networked printer. I'll have to commandeer my wife's Chromebook the next time I get a chance, and test this process out. I've never seen this particular article before, and to my knowledge adding a printer like this was previously not a supported operation on ChromeOS.

Hang on, though. We're not out of the woods yet. Because of course, the only helpful page I've found so far links[4] to _yet more instructions_ for adding a native printer. The first step is "sign into some Google service" and the steps seem geared towards an "organizational unit". No. Not happening. What the hell is all this? I just want to add a local printer. I'm not sending print jobs to Google first, and I don't want support articles that assume I'm administering an organization.

[0] https://support.google.com/cloudprint/answer/1686197 (see also the header "Connect a printer that’s not cloud-ready")

[1] https://www.blog.google/products/chrome-enterprise/chrome-en...

[2] https://www.blog.google/topics/connected-workspaces/introduc... (image a bit of the way down. IDKWTF "printer management" is supposed to mean but it seems like something I'd want)

[3] https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7225252

[4] https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7276100?hl=en&ref...