Welcome to January. I thought something new happened
deleted by creator
If they do no push back, then they are just kicking the can down the road, at great expense to themselves. This is exactly the sort of pushback needed to get bambu to walk back their push towards a walled garden.
deleted by creator
It’s also the only way they have to act against the change, which might cause enough users to protest, which might (temporarily) get Bambu to back out. Or delay at least. Probably not, but again it’s their only option.
If they go along with it, the users that could or would proper will just use Orca until inevitably Bambu also removes that possibility, then everyone is fucked anyway.
What percentage of Bambu users are using Orca? Single digit percentage? Maybe barely double digit? It’s probably not gonna change anything in the end. Clearly this has always been their plan.
I always thought their entire product strategy was clearly designed to be an eventually rug pull just like this, which is why I never got one. Other people that care about fully owning and controlling their devices probably didn’t either, or that number might be higher.
I’d argue that 5-10% are some of their most valuable users though. The creative one that make models, run YouTube channels or influence purchasing decisions for schools or businesses. Voron has a huge name in the business without spending a penny on advertising due to those people. While they make the best bang for the buck printers out there right now, they can be easily knocked off their perch if they’re not careful. What open source hath given them, open source can taketh away. e.g. look at all the upcoming multi filament solutions in the works.
I get the appeal of Bambu printers, I’ve been tempted myself to get one… but the thing that keeps me away is that they are closed source and I don’t want a world with closed source 3D printers because when the company goes evil - and they all eventually do - I don’t want to be held hostage. I’ve fallen in that trap before and don’t want to again.
Don’t give them backlash, instead stop using their printers. Release your models under a license that requires the printer that prints it to be open source. Let friends and colleagues know the dangers of supporting such a company.
Bambu as a company are pretty much the poison for 3D printing that made ink home printers a nightmare. That and lobbying to regulate and criminalize a lot of what makes 3D printing great. I fear we‘re at our peak already and it can only go downhill from here. We are just not allowed to have nice things in the 21st century.
Release your models under a license that requires the printer that prints it to be open source.
Then you wouldn’t be releasing your models under a free and open source license. It’s that simple really. The only restriction that is universally agreed to be FOSS is the GPLs requirement to release any modifications under the same license. But you can still commercialise and run the software on whatever machine you want, for example a Windows device.
Release your models under a license that requires the printer that prints it to be open source.
That has about as much sway as me telling you what bowl you must eat your breakfast from. Completely unenforceable.
Restricting models in such a way is also in itself against core values.
Bambu make great printing appliances but that’s about it. It’s still a good recommendation for someone who just wants to print as a starting point, and unconcerned with much else. The same kind of people would buy OEM cartridges at 3-5x cost for their paper printers and simply don’t care. File goes in, model comes out. Vendor lock-in doesn’t matter to them.
Other options exist for those of us who want to tinker, learn a thing or two, or simply just be in control of their shit.
Still, there will always be a ‘but…’ when I’m mentioning the company to someone looking to start printing. Then they can decide based on their own values.
There is also a problem of printers calling home regularly with unknown payload. Add to it that these devices have a camera it’s not a good look. Anecdotally mine stopped working in “lan-mode” after two or three weeks before it was allowed to connect and phone home again.
Any good alternatives to Bambulab printers? Don’t want a printer that I habe to tinker with, want one that just works😅
Elegoo Centauri Carbon, Artillery M1 Pro, Qidi Plus4, Prusa Core One
Prusa Core One. Can buy it prebuilt or as a kit.
Disclosure: I do not have one. I have a creality k1 and it’s mostly great for me, but it isn’t perfect and I personally would buy a prusa if I was buying a new printer.
But is a 1000€ printer an alternative for a 200€ Bambu A1?
They’re not comparable printers though, you should be comparing the Prusa core one to the Bambu P1-series. The Bambu P1-series is still less than half of the prusa core one of course.
I get your take, the A1 Mini is smaller, but in the end, it’s a printer with crazy good value.
I guess I will also buy a Prusa next time. My P1S has internet blocked in my firewall, and I’ll use it in LAN mode until it dies.
It’s not just smaller, it also has limitations in materials it can print because it’s not an enclosed printer. The core one can print ABS/ASA much more reliably, PC, Nylon and other fancy stuff the A1 just can’t. Their motion systems are also completely different as the core one uses coreXY and the A1 is coreXZ (aka. bedslinger).
A decent bedslinger is easy to come by these days, if that’s all you need there are many others to go with, e.g. Sovol which is using open source klipper.
