Personally, I'd use HP's configuration software only if you can't get it to work that way. But other people swear by it so I suspect it depends on the particular printer. I was fortunate to be able to pick from a list of HPs which one I thought would work best with Linux and so picked one which didn't need the firmware trick. (IT don't have many Linux users so they can afford to switch them around if it will stop me bugging them!)