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Grid: Free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer

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Re: Grid: Free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer

#91

Post by Aurornis »

jacquesm wrote: post #74
Aurornis wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in the software they ripped off. It’s a fork of PrusaSlicer, which was a fork of Slic3r. There’s a fork of BambuStudio called OrcaSlicer now. They didn’t “rip off” an open source project, they forked it just as the parent project forked another project. This is how open source is supposed to work, isn’t it? Why are we shaming them for doing the thing we always encourage and then giving features back to the communit…

You must have not been aware of how that all happened. That's fine but please, spare me the lecture.

If you’ve got more information then just say it. Being snide and alluding to some information you’re not sharing isn’t helpful at all.

I’m not lecturing anyone. I was trying to leave a helpful comment for the thread to clarify that it’s a fork, just like the fork that it came from, and the other slicer that was forked from it.

Re: Grid: Free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer

#92

Post by hulitu »

techbro92 wrote: post #64
abdullahkhalids wrote: post #26

OT: Why is that Alphabet, Mozilla, Apple, etc can get together to create web standards that allow anyone to create software that works cross-platform - only a browser is needed, but Microsoft, Alphabet, Apple, Canonical, etc can't get together to create standards that allow anyone to create software that works cross-platform?

Don’t we have the jvm?

It doesn't have enough levels of abstraction, and, conpared to electron, it uses too few resources to be considered as a viable target by real men.

Re: Grid: Free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer

#94

Post by iamflimflam1 »

s0a wrote: post #57
daemonologist wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean like PCBs? KiCad is pretty popular.

second KiCad. just had my first board printed a few months back. its an esp32 stackable daughterboard. first time doing anything like that outside of breadboarding, and it worked great.

Creating PCBs is surprisingly straightforward and there are a ton of good resources available.

It’s probably one of the few area of YouTube that is actually still useful. Probably a high enough barrier to entry to stop most slop.

Re: Grid: Free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer

#95

Post by iamflimflam1 »

the_fall wrote: post #55
s0a wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

of Kiri? it's in its 14th year. CAM was added in 2016, but the major work on that mode really kicked in around 2024.

I have a CNC mill made in 2006. It's still perfectly fine. It should still be fine in 2036. The most significant threat to its existence is the compatibility of OS drivers and software support in CAM tools. That and USB ports getting replaced by something else, which was a problem for earlier-generation machines that used RS-232.

Worst case - you could at some point rip out the brains and replace them.

CNC machines are somewhat basic machines really.

Re: Grid: Free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer

#96

Post by jacquesm »

Aurornis wrote: post #91
jacquesm wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must have not been aware of how that all happened. That's fine but please, spare me the lecture.

If you’ve got more information then just say it. Being snide and alluding to some information you’re not sharing isn’t helpful at all. I’m not lecturing anyone. I was trying to leave a helpful comment for the thread to clarify that it’s a fork, just like the fork that it came from, and the other slicer that was forked from it.

They release their stuff, but only under (significant) community pressure, and they try to do it in such a way that interop becomes harder and harder. Some parts they never release, because 'reasons', but are suspected of containing large chunks of FOSS used outside of license. They release breaking updates that lock out other applications from interfacing with their hardware.

And then there is crap like this:

https://www.josefprusa.com/articles/open-hardware-in-3d-prin...

Bambu is fantastic hardware but they're doing the exact same thing that DJI did in the drones field. A few more years and Prusa will have gone under, because it is impossible to compete with Chinese state subsidized companies whose sole purpose it is to dominate a market where they take something that has been community built and then embrace and extend it in every way possible to kick the door shut behind them. All of course in your best interests.

Re: Grid: Free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer

#97

Post by ginko »

aprilnya wrote: post #80
h4kunamata wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Works in any browser, even offline once loaded That, my friend, is not how offline works. You will be required to have internet access in one way or another. Offline works 100% locally no matter if you have internet or not.

Umm, I’m confused about this comment… the concept of a web app that gets saved into browser cache and then can be loaded and used while offline definitely isn’t new. See Photopea etc

With a stand-alone application once you download it in your file system you know exactly where it is and how to create backups etc.

A "browser cache" is just an opaque bit of storage. What if you need to update/reinstall your browser or want to switch? I wouldn't trust important data to it.

I generally feel uncomfortable how so many applications are browser-only these days. The thought of having important data in a tab that you might close by mistake at any moment is uncomfortable. Browsers should really only be used for fleeting content, not productive work.

Re: Grid: Free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer

#98

Post by dirkc »

rbbydotdev wrote: post #70

- 100% free, no subscriptions, no accounts, no cloud - Local-first: all slicing and toolpath generation runs on your machine - Works in any browser, even offline once loaded YES! I think a new type of open source is emerging centering around what is now possible in browsers. Browsers have a great track record when running legacy projects. Relying on a backend could be a liability for longevity. I built opal editor my…

That's an interesting take. I've never really thought of it that way before, but I think you are right that you'll have an easier task running an HTML file with embedded JavaScript from 15+ years ago in a browser than running a 15+ year old binary.

Re: Grid: Free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer

#99

Post by frumplestlatz »

soanvig wrote: post #81
the_fall wrote: post #45

Part of me wants to be wary. The useful life of industrial machinery such as CNC mills is much longer than the lifespan of websites, so locally-installed software you own is usually a better choice. But another part of me realizes that everyone is using Fusion360, despite the fact they have a history of taking away features to force people to migrate to paid tiers. So it probably doesn't matter.

> much longer than the lifespan of websites But browsers (and browser technologies) have documented track of being fully backward compatible up to the beginnings of WWW, and it's not going to change. Which actually is much much better than any other environment you can imagine - unless of course you use (and want to use) that one frozen in time 25 year old PC. And pray nothing breaks (y2k bugs and whatnot). If the so…

"Fully backwards compatible" isn't really true, and even if it were, then you're stuck using browser-based software and its myriad of inherent downsides.

People (generally) use web-based apps that are good enough in spite of the web stack -- not because of it.

Re: Grid: Free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer

#100

Post by Ccecil »

reactordev wrote: post #3

Now if we can only get an offline printer…

Kinda funny how things have progressed...

I work with the Smoothieware project. The V1 Smoothieboard was one of the first with ethernet onboard (although kinda borked). First thing that was advised to everyone was "never connect this to anything outside your local network"

Nowadays...it seems that warning has been lost. Even in the face of firmware updates that caused physical damage.

Something to be said for building your own printer.

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