what is CUPS ?
CUPS (formerly an acronym for Common Unix Printing System, but now with no official expansion[citation needed]) is a
modular printing system for Unix-like computer operating systems which allows a computer to act as a print server.

A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to  the appropriate printer.

CUPS consists of a print spooler and scheduler, a filter system that converts the print data to a format that the  printer will understand, and a backend system that sends this data to the print device.
CUPS uses the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) as the basis for managing print jobs and queues.
It also provides the traditional command line interfaces for the System V and Berkeley print systems, and provides support for the Berkeley print system's Line Printer Daemon protocol and limited support for the server message block (SMB) protocol.
System administrators can configure the device drivers which CUPS supplies by editing text files in Adobe's PostScript Printer Description (PPD) format.
There are a number of user interfaces for different platforms that can configure CUPS, and it has a built-in web-based interface. CUPS is free software, provided under the GNU General Public License and GNU Lesser General Public License, Version 2.


In order to understand Pasta first you need to understand why you need Pasta in Printing & later about what is pasta & how to implement it in Oracle Applications.

In order to understand need for Pasta , you should know about PostScript...

----What is Post Script ?
As per WebOPedia PostScript is primarily a language for printing documents on laser printers developed by Adobe Systems.

----What is Pasta ?
Pasta is Oracle Application utility to convert text report files to Post Script so that these can be printed by PostScript Printres. Executable name for Pasta is FNDPSTAX
For various printing options via Pasta, you can use pasta configuration file called as pasta.cfg

How to Setup basic Pasta Printing in Oracle Applications ?
If you wish to use PostScript printer to print Text or Post script reports , you need to select printer type as "--Pasta Universal Printer" from list of values; while defining printer.
For more information on how to define printer check previous posts at

http://becomeappsdba.blogspot.com/2006/09/printer-basics-in-oracle-apps-11i.html
http://becomeappsdba.blogspot.com/2006/09/configuring-printer-in-oracle_28.html

Where to find more information on Pasta Printing ?
You can get everything related to Pasta advanced configuration in Oracle Applications System Administration Guide, Volume 1 Part No. A96155-03 , chapter 7-13 Printer Setup with pasta

Additional Metalink Resource for Pasta Printing

356501.1 How to Setup Pasta Quickly and Effectively
267026.1 How To Set The PASTA Debug Option
239196.1 PASTA 3.0 Release InformationNote 
358879.1 The Pasta Landwide Driver Truncates / Cuts Off The Right Side Of The Report 
179801.1 Printing and Previewing Arabic Reports using PASTA in Oracle Apps 11i
308949.1 How To Print Reports In PDF Format Directly From The Concurrent Manager 
135137.1 PASTA Required For Printing With UTF8 For Any Release Of 11.5




We can summarize these configuration as

1. Setup the printer at the OS level
2. Add a valid entry in the hosts file (Printer Name and the IP Address)
3. Login to System Administrator responsibility
4. Navigate to Install > Printer > Register
5. Define a new printer by entering the Printer Name you have set in the hosts file
6. Save
7. Bounce the Concurrent Manager
8. Submit any standard concurrent request.