KDE (and I guess qt, too) has taken to requiring it:

Required by:
kdelibs-2.2.1
qt2-designer-kde-2.3.1nb1
qt2-2.3.1nb2
kdebase-2.2.1
koffice-1.1


I noticed it getting built/installed when I updated pkgsrc a couple of
weeks back.  Given that it didn't need CUPS previously, and that *I* don't
need CUPS at all, I'm a little disgusted, even given KDE's general bulk,
that it's trying to supplant a working printer system (lpd) with one that
I don't want/need in real life.

(Yes, I imagine that CUPS must have some features.  But the fact that
people aren't raving about it all over the place, and that I don't feel at
all cramped by the BSD lpd system, makes me think that KDE probably can,
and should, be able to install without needing CUPS.  But, what do you
expect from KDE? A lean, simple system?  No...(^&)


Anyway.  If you've installed KDE or qt on that machine recently (maybe
trying stuff out for your mom's laptop configuration?), that could explain
why you have CUPS installed.  It might be nice if pkg depedancies were
stashed in an RCS tree (albeit a dengenerate, linear tree) so that you
could see historic dependancies for things like this..(^& Dunno if it
would significantly slow down pkg operations to deal the RCS layer,
though.


(ramble)


  ``I probably don't know what I'm talking about.'' --rauch@math.rice.edu