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An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation

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Re: An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation

#121

Post by [deleted] »

throwaway219450 wrote: post #88
ChuckMcM wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was really depressing when I realized that people will buy a sketchy product which is hurting the community and makers of non-sketchy products because "its cheaper and its not like my purchase is gonna change things one way or another." It is selfish and short sighted, and it leaves their future impoverished, but in the moment they "got a good deal."

It's not worth engaging in the debate. People have complained that Prusa printers are expensive since forever, even when the MK3 was objectively superior to the alternative models. They would rather buy a $200 Ender and spend a lifetime tinkering with it.

[deleted]

Re: An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation

#122

Post by Yohvee7u »

ThouYS wrote: post #112

copyright etc has been dead the moment the personal computer arrived. we are still living through the chaos of the new world being born, but I think it has been over for a while already. I would be very surprised if any kind of license like the GPL (or any license for published code) is left in 100 years or so. DRM is another face of the same struggle, and this too shall pass. Ironically, DRM coming from the same sou…

That's the whole point and philosophy behind the GPL. That's why it's called "copyleft". It's about taking copyright law as it currently exists and using it subversively.

Re: An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation

#123

Post by RobotToaster »

throwaway219450 wrote: post #88
ChuckMcM wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was really depressing when I realized that people will buy a sketchy product which is hurting the community and makers of non-sketchy products because "its cheaper and its not like my purchase is gonna change things one way or another." It is selfish and short sighted, and it leaves their future impoverished, but in the moment they "got a good deal."

It's not worth engaging in the debate. People have complained that Prusa printers are expensive since forever, even when the MK3 was objectively superior to the alternative models. They would rather buy a $200 Ender and spend a lifetime tinkering with it.

Prusa have their own ongoing GPL violation https://consumerrights.wiki/w/Prusa_Research

Re: An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation

#124

Post by deepspace »

sneak wrote: post #14

FWIW the AGPL (which is a nonfree EULA trying to masquerade as a copyright license) has never been tested in court, so the fact that it is nonsensical has yet to actually be adjudicated. Software and services aren’t the same, and the anticapitalist zealots at the FSF can’t square this circle no matter how hard they try.

The person I am replying to is an obvious troll, but it is worth mentioning that there is very little to "test in court". Basic copyright law says that you cannot copy someone else's code and distribute software based thereon. *GPL* provides a workaround, provided that you follow the terms of the license. If a court were to invalidate all of AGPL, the default fallback would simply be that nobody is able to distribute the software.

Re: An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation

#125

Post by Starmina »

bdcravens wrote: post #60
hamdingers wrote: post #15

For current owners who want to avoid Bambu's servers entirely, consider LAN mode with OrcaSlicer and this open source reverse engineered networking plugin: https://github.com/ClusterM/open-bamboo-networking I have verified that my P2S in LAN mode never attempts to make external connections at all (blocked it anyway, of course) and OrcaSlicer + this plugin never attempts to connect to any of Bambu's servers. My P2S is…

I have several, and they're all running in DevMode/LAN Mode. I drive them using this project: https://bambuddy.cool/

This still sends query to bambulab if they don’t use modified networking plugin, unfortunately.

Re: An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation

#126

Post by happyopossum »

VorpalWay wrote: post #105
tamimio wrote: post #95

I wasn’t following bambu-drama, what’s a good alternative that have equal good quality/precision and won’t require taking a loan to buy?

Prusa is good, a bit more expensive (since it is made in EU), but I wouldn't say it is "needs a loan" more expensive (of course depending on what model, they have small scale industrial offerings too). I understand Snapmaker has been getting some good press lately (especially the Snapmaker U1), and it would be cheaper than the equivalent Prusa and they are more open than Bambu (so far) in their deals with open source…

> a bit more expensive

$750 vs $1,750 is not a bit more...

[0] P2S with AMS vs Core One + MMU

Re: An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation

#127

Post by FloatArtifact »

hamdingers wrote: post #15

For current owners who want to avoid Bambu's servers entirely, consider LAN mode with OrcaSlicer and this open source reverse engineered networking plugin: https://github.com/ClusterM/open-bamboo-networking I have verified that my P2S in LAN mode never attempts to make external connections at all (blocked it anyway, of course) and OrcaSlicer + this plugin never attempts to connect to any of Bambu's servers. My P2S is…

I know I'm worried when they're going to start mandating client-side scanning of 3D prints.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/06/we-can-still-stop-cali...

Re: An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation

#128

Post by Palomides »

nomel wrote: post #98
Symbiote wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prusa's printers also worked out of the box. They cost slightly more, and their staff aren't volunteers.

No they did not. Calibrating flow and pressure advance was entirely manual. Vibration compensation/input shaping did not exist until 2023 [1], and was also entirely manual. The Pursa XL (only thing remotely comparable) was over double the price [2], with the Core One (Bambu competitor) not coming out until 2024 [2]. Their MMU was a clusterfuck of tinkering [4], so when Bambu released the AMS, people were trying to fi…

if you absolutely needed a huge multi color/material printer, sure, but a prusa i3 mkwhatever was entirely adequate for normal 3d printing out of the box

Re: An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation

#129

Post by _carbyau_ »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #6

I think the Bambu case is a good one to litigate the AGPL but perhaps should start in the Court of International Trade. That court has the power to block imports as part of a TRO which would shut down a lot of their revenue from the US at least. Doing something similar in Europe would also help apply pressure. Takes lawyers and money though, of which there is certainly not enough of the latter. Not to be too glib her…

The article mentions reverse engineering the code.

But is there anything to stop reverse engineering the physical printer itself, improving on it by 10mm build volume in each direction, and releasing that?

It won't be a copy of the Bambu printer AND it can run the same software, truly freely.

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