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Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract

jeffgeerling.com

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Re: Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract

#301

Post by CarVac »

TekMol wrote: post #230

Here is my perspective as someone who has not started 3d-printing yet, but is interested to give it a try: I'm a confused about the whole "3D printer sends prints to its manufacturer's server" issue. Because I wouldn't want to connect hardware device like a 3D-printer to a network in the first place. Can I buy a Bambu Lab printer and just never hook it up to any network? Will I be able to print from sd-card just fine…

You hook it up to the network to use monitoring features like a remote camera view to make sure your print is going smoothly.

SD cards work but it's extremely less convenient than just printing straight from the slicer.

You can use any slicer you want but Bambu wants only their slicer to directly connect.

CLI slicing is not something you want in general. Visual confirmation of the toolpaths is very important to making prints as successful as possible.

Re: Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract

#302

Post by m4rtink »

wongarsu wrote: post #55
p-e-w wrote: post #11

> Some people are okay with using OrcaSlicer and printing through Bambu's cloud. It's convenient if you're on the road and want to start a print on your printer at home Do such people really exist? Are there actually people who are comfortable blindly starting a robot in their home, with a part that heats to 150 C, and then hope that everything will work out and when they get home the part will be waiting for them, i…

Closer to 200C. But the gantry constraints movement, the 200C nozzle can only really touch its holder, the print bed, the filament and some metal or silicon cleaning surfaces. None of those are flamable at those temps. Maybe if it knocks itself down to the ground? But I worry much more about faulty wiring or stuff like that. And that's more a function of the brand and model

It could be enough if the nozzle just stops moving while touching the model being printed - based on the type of material, it might start burning.

And if you want to be outright malicious, you can disable maximum temperature control and do the same with much hotter nozzle rammed into the model - and even print an extra burnable model when you are at it!

Or count on the power supply or the wiring catching fire instead due to overload.

Re: Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract

#303

Post by q3k »

Petersipoi wrote: post #247

I don't care if my 3d printer is "open" any more than I care if my refrigerator is "open". I get that for a lot of you it's a hobby that you want a dedicate a lot of time to, upgrading, hacking, etc.. which is great. But for me, I just want something that prints when I need it to print. The fewer minutes per month that I have to spend thinking about or interacting with my 3d printer, while still getting great prints,…

If there were no 'open' 3D printers there would be no Bambu Lab.

Re: Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract

#304

Post by m4rtink »

awakeasleep wrote: post #26
p-e-w wrote: post #11

> Some people are okay with using OrcaSlicer and printing through Bambu's cloud. It's convenient if you're on the road and want to start a print on your printer at home Do such people really exist? Are there actually people who are comfortable blindly starting a robot in their home, with a part that heats to 150 C, and then hope that everything will work out and when they get home the part will be waiting for them, i…

That isn’t a significantly different risk from how you are required to use a FDM printer, regardless of circumstance. Prints regularly take ten+ hours to complete. No one is vigilantly guarding their printer during this time. Fire spreads so quickly in a house that a smoke alarm is often just a signal to get out, you don’t necessarily have the time to grab a fire extinguisher and put it out. And how big is the risk,…

We built an enclosure fort our printers from a metal storage rack & added active ventilation that suck out any fumes outside the building. Still, you need to physically get there, check the bed is clean & start the print manually.

There are are also regular software checks for overheating or thermistor wiring failing & we know they are there and are enabled as we built the Marlin firmware ourself from source (which is quite easy once you properly configure it). Not to mention we are sure we are the ones in control over the firmware.

We also have a bunch of web cameras watching the printers print that we can monitor remotely.

Re: Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract

#307

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

vitaflo wrote: post #273
bityard wrote: post #163

I'm an open-source advocate (some would say zealot?) but I ended up buying a Bambu P1S a few months back because my research indicated that there were ways use it normally without creating a Bambu account, or using their slicer, or having to send all of your prints through their servers. I don't have my notes in front of me, but I managed to do all of that with hardly any trouble at all. IIRC, you only had to change…

People just want to bitch online about printers not being open enough while they type their comments from their fully closed and locked down phones.

Are you under the impression that people aren't also upset about the phone thing?

Re: Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract

#308

Post by bityard »

uberduper wrote: post #274
bityard wrote: post #163

I'm an open-source advocate (some would say zealot?) but I ended up buying a Bambu P1S a few months back because my research indicated that there were ways use it normally without creating a Bambu account, or using their slicer, or having to send all of your prints through their servers. I don't have my notes in front of me, but I managed to do all of that with hardly any trouble at all. IIRC, you only had to change…

Did you install the network connector Orca slicer prompted you to download? It's a closed source blob that runs on your PC which I'm presuming you haven't air-gapped as well.

I did not install any network connector in Orca Slicer.

Re: Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract

#309

Post by Baeocystin »

wolvoleo wrote: post #252
kn100 wrote: post #30

Full disclosure: I've never owned a Bambu because I've never loved the idea of a "closed" ecosystem 3D printer, however I have used them, and am very familiar with the 3d printing space beyond Bambu. For anyone considering alternatives: You should know that almost all other 3D printers expect you to know a little more about how they actually work than Bambus. Bambus are as close as you can get to a "just works" type…

I don't think Prusa and Bambu compare well. Prusa printers aren't as cleanly designed as Bambu and they are more than twice the price. I consider them really poor value for money. And Bambu printers aren't clones. The AMS is something they came up with. Also, Prusa copy from Bambu too. Like their own material switcher (much less sophisticated than the AMS) and the new Core printer is really more a Bambu copy than the…

I have about 15,000 hours on my Bambu x1c, and it's been fantastic. Their customer service has been great, too; the couple of times that I've had service issues, the tech genuinely worked with me to solve the problem. They were a lot nicer about it than the times I had to contact prusa about my older i3. FWIW.

Re: Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract

#310

Post by elteto »

Petersipoi wrote: post #247

I don't care if my 3d printer is "open" any more than I care if my refrigerator is "open". I get that for a lot of you it's a hobby that you want a dedicate a lot of time to, upgrading, hacking, etc.. which is great. But for me, I just want something that prints when I need it to print. The fewer minutes per month that I have to spend thinking about or interacting with my 3d printer, while still getting great prints,…

Then you sound like the type of client that perfectly fits Bambu's profile. Now, don't come complaining when Bambu decides you need a monthly subscription to use the slicer, or whatever rent-seeking they come up with in the future. Remember, you are paying extra for the privilege of not thinking, and you bought into that arrangement fully aware.
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