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When I browse to my home samba shares (on an Ubuntu server box) from another Linux box I can see the print server running in Nautilus alongside my samba share.
Is it worth disabling it, both for simplicity and security?
The only access I have to the files in my samba share from outside my home network is via SSH/SFTP and that's using key-based auth.
Does the print server piggyback onto the samba protocol and that's why it shows up next to samba on the home net?
As I said in a comment. Is a good practice to disable always unused services. Printer services are as vulnerable as other services. I mean, it depends of the version. Some versions have exploits to gain access in the same way like Samba. You should have your systems updated and everything should be ok.
A couple of examples of vulnerable versions of Samba and print servers:
To your question "Does the print server piggyback onto the samba protocol and that's why it shows up next to samba on the home net?", the answer is yes. Like in Microsoft machines, they are related.
Anyway, if from outside there are only access to ssh and sftp and if you have strong passwords and updated versions, you should not have problems. Anyway, nothing is impossible. :)
