LAN setup shouldn't matter too much on what platform your on (based on my experiences with setting up Roland and HP wide format printers on Linux and Windows).
Now, the RIP portion, only RIP that I'm aware of that works on UNIX-like OSs (Linux and Mac) would be Caldera. Only one that I'm aware of anyway.
Or you have the option of VMing (Parallels, VMWare, Virtualbox) or dual booting (Boot Camp) a Windows instance with a wider ranger of choices as far as a RIP goes.