Is it safe to download Gutenprint printer driver from Sourceforge?

[Certifiedidiot]

Hello! One more question:

Gutenprint (gimp-print.sourceforge.net) has been recommended in some places, but I also heard Sourceforge site is not safe to download from - are the Sourceforge links in Gutenprint site safe or not?

Friend of mine tried it and while nothing else seemed to have happened, his printer froze - even pushing the ON/OFF button did not help shutting printer down, only removing power cable helped to shut printer down. He later found another official driver that made printer work so it wasn't printer's issue.

But I don't have that option. I need this driver, but I'm not sure if it is safe - anyone has experiences with this software? Is it just something that won't work depending on printer or could it contain malicious software?

If it is safe, I'll give it a try and hopefully it works.

 

[chscag]

Downloading from Sourceforge generally is safe. As far as the Gutenprint driver for your printer is concerned, it depends. I have used a Gutenprint driver for my older HP LaserJet printer and it worked well. However, not all Gutenprint drivers will work the same as the original printer manufacturer drivers but if that's all you have available, then you have no choice but to try it.

Make sure you have a good backup in place before installing the Gutenprint driver so that you can always restore to back where you were before.

 

[Rod]

The truth is anything you download from the internet could contain malicious code but if possible download from the developer. Perform a full system backup before download and or get Malwarebytes a free malware remover avilable from here; https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/

 

[Certifiedidiot]

Downloading from Sourceforge generally is safe. As far as the Gutenprint driver for your printer is concerned, it depends. I have used a Gutenprint driver for my older HP LaserJet printer and it worked well. However, not all Gutenprint drivers will work the same as the original printer manufacturer drivers but if that's all you have available, then you have no choice but to try it.

Make sure you have a good backup in place before installing the Gutenprint driver so that you can always restore to back where you were before.

So when it comes to being malicious software, Gutenprint is safe?
I'll try and see if it works then.

The truth is anything you download from the internet could contain malicious code but if possible download from the developer. Perform a full system backup before download and or get Malwarebytes a free malware remover avilable from here; https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/

Hm, gimp-print.sourceforge.net seems to be developer's main site... I think.
Thank you, I'm running Malwarebytes quite often. Should I need any real time scanner or are those all harmful?

 

[chscag]

Hm, gimp-print.sourceforge.net seems to be developer's main site... I think.

It is the developer's main site and as I stated above, SourceForge is a safe site. I have downloaded many items from there including games and printer drivers. No nasties as far as I know. No full time scanning required, just keep running Malwarebytes every once in awhile.