| Software Review: fax2send |
Lawrence F. Povirk (Feb. 23, 2002)
Having recently experimented with several Linux FAX packages, both free and commercial, I'd recommend fax2send as by far the easiest to install and use. Fax2send is commercial software, but you can't really complain too much about the price: $25 for an individual license, and free for academic use.
Unlike some of the GPL packages, it's a full stand-alone application, not just a front end. Once you download and unpack the tarball, it's a simple matter of running the install script, which activates a graphical, largely self-explanatory installation interface, with help available for every dialog box if needed. Once I found a compatible modem (see below), installation and configuration on my Red Hat 7.0 workstation with KDE was complete within five minutes.
Fax2send has most of the features that have become standard in FAX software, including phonebook, preview, attachments, automatic queuing/resending, editable cover page, and a virtual printer to allow print-to-fax from any application. The install automatically adds the appropriate entries to /etc/printcap, and I had no problems printing from WordPerfect and GIMP.
Alternatively, any postscript file, single- or multi-page, can be added as an attachment. In general, fax2send keeps things simple. The phonebook, for example, contains only name, company and FAX number, all stored in a tab-delimited text file. In keeping with Linux' multiuser format, there is a separate phonebook for each user as well as a Public phonebook open to all. If you use a phone-card or other code for long-distance charges, you'll have to append it to each phone number as there is no provision for adding it automatically. Fax2send also features client software for Windows, Linux and even Macintosh (I did not try these), so that any authorized user on your LAN can FAX through a single modem on your Linux box.
While I'm getting used to fax2send, there are a few features from my old Windows BitFax program that I still miss, such as built-in bitmap-level editing and direct scanner support. Of course, you can always set xsane to 200 dpi, line-art, save-as-postscript, then scan and attach, but it's an extra step, and a tedious one if you're sending multiple pages. Also a bit annoying is the fact that (at least as far as I can tell) you can't cancel a FAX from any of the menus, you have to go to the command line, nor can you omit the cover page.
Now, back to the modem. It must have Class 2 or 2.0 FAX support, a requirement that rules out quite a few common faxmodems, including the first one I tried, an external Hayes Accura 144 (fortunately, the installer can test for Class 2 compatibility). I next tried an internal Intel 144i, which supposedly has Class 2 support and worked fine with BitFax. During the installation, it checked out OK, but when I started sending FAXes, it consistently dropped the connection after the first page.
Experimenting with various setup parameters as suggested in the help files failed to solve the problem, so I sent the extensive debug files to fax2send support. A few days later I received a quite detailed reply, a nice gesture considering that I had only a free, academic license. They noted some odd and confusing modem errors in the debug files, and suggested I try a US Robotics or Multitech modem, which they regularly test with the software. I picked up a Multitech MT5634 on EBay for $8, ran the install script again, and suddenly everything worked fine.
So despite some minor shortcomings, I'm pretty satisfied with fax2send. It gets the job done, and with a minimum of fuss. It's a useful, reliable utility, and a real value, especially for us academics. :o)
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