These days, I personally haven't had any issues with odd scanners or printers and getting them to work. Years ago it was nightmarish, but now it tends to be a lot easier than Windows in my experience. My scanner still doesn't work in Windows (granted: I haven't sunk more than about 25 minutes into trying to get it to work), but it works just fine on Linux (with zero effort).
I'm running Void Linux + Brother ADS-1200 + Skanpage + paperless-ngx in Docker with almost no issues. I deliberately picked the ADS-1200 after poking around old HN threads for near bulletproof, reliable and well-supported scanners. If you already have a particular Windows-friendly scanner or printer and want to just switch OSes as seamlessly as possible.....yeah you'll probably have some frustrations.
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ok, but what if you need something off-the-wall, like a scanner?
These days, I personally haven't had any issues with odd scanners or printers and getting them to work. Years ago it was nightmarish, but now it tends to be a lot easier than Windows in my experience. My scanner still doesn't work in Windows (granted: I haven't sunk more than about 25 minutes into trying to get it to work), but it works just fine on Linux (with zero effort).
I'm running Void Linux + Brother ADS-1200 + Skanpage + paperless-ngx in Docker with almost no issues. I deliberately picked the ADS-1200 after poking around old HN threads for near bulletproof, reliable and well-supported scanners. If you already have a particular Windows-friendly scanner or printer and want to just switch OSes as seamlessly as possible.....yeah you'll probably have some frustrations.