Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'

iiancmceachern about 2 hours ago 19 commentsRead Article on tomshardware.com

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Discussion (19 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

ChristianJacobs•about 1 hour ago

Bambu showed their true colours last year when they would've eliminated offline access altogether if not for public outrage. You don't own your Bambu printer, you're leasing it at a subsidised premium.

This move does not surprise me at all, and I'm genuinely happy that Louis is willing to shell out money to help those that can't defend themselves.

I'm happy that Bambu finally made Prusa care, but I will not cheer them even if they consistently innovate. It's just sad.

Aurornis•about 1 hour ago

OrcaSlicer supports Bambu printers already. Does anyone have any better sources for what this other fork supposedly did?

EDIT: I’m not going to sit through another angry Louis Rossmann video, but from what I can see someone tried to make a branch of OrcaSlicer that interacted directly with Bambu’s private cloud APIs to impersonate Bambu Studio. I don’t agree with the legal threats but this case is about connecting to their non-public cloud APIs, not connecting to the printer directly.

RobotToaster•about 1 hour ago

Bambu's proprietary networking plugin uses the agpl libraries from slic3r/prusaslicer, by not releasing the source code they're violating the AGPL.

exitb•about 1 hour ago

Some time ago the printers were able to communicate over both cloud and local protocols. Then, in a firmware update, they created distinct modes for those. You can still use the printers with OrcaSlicer, but in a mode that prevents being controlled by cloud too.

ben-schaaf•about 1 hour ago

Note that at least for now you can also downgrade the firmware and use the "legacy" plugin with OrcaSlicer to fully restore functionality.

hamdingers•about 1 hour ago

This is a feature. When I enable LAN mode I do not want Bambu to be able to control my printer.

It remains astonishing to me that this is controversial. Not everyone has the knowhow to block internet access to their printer, so having a toggle in firmware is terrific. I've verified after turning it on that it never phones home. Couldn't be happier.

exitb•about 1 hour ago

It’s fully understandable to want that and exactly what I use too. It still sucks for people that did want to start their prints locally and control them over the app.

dspillett•about 1 hour ago

> I’m not going to sit through another angry Louis Rossmann video

Try https://youtu.be/0tdZ5Z7nRDY?si=vjnJ90p6ba_Xik9B for a less emotive take on this specific case, and the closely related matter of Bambu's attempt to circumvent some of AGPL's protections.

Aurornis•41 minutes ago

Since you’re familiar with the topic, any sources that are not YouTube videos?

dspillett•23 minutes ago

Not that contain any information not covered in the above, or aren't LLM summaries of summaries of the matter, unfortunately. At least not that I've seen thus far. Such is the current timeline, where everything has to be a monetizable video, slop, or both…

jonpurdy•about 1 hour ago

Very useful comment. I’ve had an A1 Mini for a year now and it has been my favourite purchase in years. Like when I got my first mobile phone, I feel like I’ll have some sort of 3d printer for the rest of my life. Bambu made it super easy and inexpensive for this to happen.

I’m completely against bullying and attempts to lock out open source software from using 3d printers directly; if they locked out OrcaSlicer from direct control I’d have a big problem with that.

But trying to interact directly with Bambu’s private infrastructure/APis seems reasonable for Bambu to block. I think a cease and desist might backfire on Bambu but i don’t think it’s unreadable. (Didn’t watch the video. Just getting context from parent comment. )

dspillett•about 1 hour ago

> But trying to interact directly with Bambu’s private infrastructure/APis seems reasonable for Bambu to block.

Even if they have taken away other routes that used to exist so that this is the only way?

I've also been very happy with my A1 (bought ~18 months go), and have since bought a U1 (which has networking problems of its own, but is otherwise a great upgrade) alongside it. Unless Bambu changes its tack significantly I'll not be buying another of their machines or more of their materials¹.

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[1] well, maybe the light grey PLA as I've not yet found anything similar enough easily available in the UK, and it is perfect for prints that I want to look neutral or for some scifi ships & similar…

stavros•about 1 hour ago

It's not like you have a choice, the printer doesn't work locally unless you enable LAN mode, and then it only works locally. Bambu make you pick either "closed servers" or "the mobile app doesn't work" for no reason.

I'll chip in to this developer's legal defense fund because I want to be able to do whatever I want with my printer, and "I can't do what I want with my printer" is a bigger problem for me right now than "the developer made a TCP connection on my behalf to a server he didn't own".

switchbak•43 minutes ago

But we’re geeks, we can run tailscale on the local lan and access it anywhere, no? Obviously that’s not for everyone, but that’s workable for savvy users, no?

xattt•41 minutes ago

Although local LAN control is still unhindered, browsing the filesystem on the printer from the slicer is locked behind cloud mode.

Getting cloud mode means using Bambu Studio. Getting Bambu Studio means one more notch in slowly getting locked into the walled Bambu garden.

PunchyHamster•about 1 hour ago

Definitely gives me second thoughts about getting one. They look like easiest way to get into 3d printing as a tool (rather than another hobby), but their recent attitude just makes me think I should suffer a bit less advanced product just to not have to deal with that shit.

comboy•17 minutes ago

There's some drama, and they did some wrong calls. But the hardware is still really fantastic (as a X1C owner). If you want to have some things printed and don't necessarily want fine tuning your printer as a hobby, I highly recommend it.

vitaflo•about 1 hour ago

You can use Bambu printers fully offline. All this vitriol about them is severely misplaced IMO.

HowTheStoryEnds•about 1 hour ago

Where can I get the source code they modified?

stavros•about 1 hour ago

That comes with a big caveat. You can either choose to use the printer offline, or online, with no ability to use both. If you want the ability to monitor or pause a print when you're not home on the off chance something goes wrong, you HAVE to send every print through their cloud, there's no middle ground.

That's not Bambu being open, that's them doing the absolute minimum to allow people to say "you can use Bambu printers fully offline" in comment sections.

greggsy•33 minutes ago

Can you access all that on you local lan though?

If so then you could access it over a reverse proxy like Tailscale.

Its trivially easy to set one up these days.

Toutouxc•about 1 hour ago

Wait, that’s still just about their phone app. When you disable the cloud features, you lose the phone app, but otherwise the printer is fully usable. You can still connect to it through Bambu studio, you just have to roll your own networking (e.g. a VPN), right?

j1elo•about 1 hour ago

Pawel Jarczak could consider donating the code to an anonymous random friend who happened to upload it to a chinese code forge where development could continue.

chappi42•about 1 hour ago

Rossmann lost all my respect when he shit-talked GrapheneOS. Bambu works great. He can rant around the world while monetizing his videos. I neither care nor listen.

HowTheStoryEnds•about 1 hour ago

Bambu Labs is completely ignoring their legal duties under the AGPL code they used while trying to make others comply to their licensing terms through abuse of the legal system.

Nobody forced them to use said code, they chose to when it was in their best interest and now they renege on the part in the license (the only thing that gives them a right to use and build on said code) when they deem it not in their interest any longer and think they're big enough to squash individuals protesting.

Nothing wrong there, right, chairman?

daneel_w•about 1 hour ago

If you are referring to his video from May 2023, "Why I deleted GrapheneOS", it is about the team lead, Daniel Micay, not about GrapheneOS itself. He, in fact, praises GrapheneOS to no end in the very same video.

hamdingers•35 minutes ago

Perhaps the fact that he brings petty interpersonal drama wherever he goes is the root of the complaint?

daneel_w•27 minutes ago

If you with "he" mean Daniel Micay, I unfortunately agree, based on observations from previously having idled in the GOS Discord for a couple of years. Plenty of downright mean and unforgiving behavior, not seldom due to him misinterpreting others' statements and questions.

gosub100•about 1 hour ago

he projects a lot of is emotional issues into his work. I support what he does, but he appears to make himself miserable in the process.

cjbgkagh•about 1 hour ago

I think there is an element of audience capture. Similar to how ElectroBOOM has to keep electrocuting himself for his audience. It’s a living…

stavros•about 1 hour ago

Maybe you know this, but ElectroBOOM doesn't actually electrocute himself, it's just a running gag.

smitty1e•about 1 hour ago

Who are some 3D printer vendors that are worthy of support?

sottol•about 1 hour ago

I would have said Prusa a year or two ago but they've reneged a little on their open-ness. That was probably in response to Bambu being fully closed and gaining so much market share.

The Core line of printers seems promising and a big leap towards closing the gap towards Bambu's corexy printers but haven't used one yet and I've been out of the game a little. Bambu though is probably more of a high-end appliance type than Prusas more utilitarian feel.

GuB-42•about 1 hour ago

I'd say Prussa.

I am not going to say they are perfect, but I think they have a good balance of ethics, openness, product quality, innovation, availability and price. By that I mean their are the best in none of them, but I don't think of anything better as a combination.

nullstyle•about 1 hour ago

Prusa sat on its haunches for a decade, happy to leave progress on the table as long as their salaries got paid. Bambu actually got non-technical people into the hobby and has always had more bang per buck.

Buy a bambu; use Orcaslicer

Edit: didn't mean to say "held the industry back"; I would categorize my opinion more along the lines of "were happy to get fat on past offerings" or the like.

sottol•42 minutes ago

My thing with bambu was always that they polished whatever the industry (and hobbyists) had invented and closed it all off, then also innovating on top of that but never giving back unless they _had_ to. Polish and mechanical design are great but corexy kinematics, input-shaping are imo what made the X1 stand out as the fast+good-qual printer when it launched. A lot of what they added on top was then to build a moat.

This may be a controversial take, but imo it would be Bambu to set the industry back by a decade if they "win" and lock up the market. That's clearly their strategy afaict.

Does anyone remember Bambu patenting existing open inventions as their own? I can't seem to find good links anymore (?!) but there's some details here https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5134/8/6/141

therouwboat•38 minutes ago

I did quick search and bambu p2s seems to be 30% faster than prusa mk4s and few hundred cheaper. Prusa is more accurate, more open and has better spare parts supply. Bambu doesn't have wifi connection unless I use their cloud?

I'm gonna keep using mk4s.

stavros•about 1 hour ago

How did Prusa hold the industry back? Were they suing other printer manufacturers who innovated?

"Not innovating myself" isn't the same as "holding other's innovations back".

Lukas_Skywalker•about 1 hour ago

I have a Prusa MK3S and it has been very very reliable. There's also a ton of mods you can download and print, which modify or extend the printer for specific use cases. They are a bit more expensive then their Chinese counterparts, but in my opinion, it's definitely worth the extra cost for the peace of mind.

kennywinker•about 1 hour ago

I just bought a qidi printer. It arrives in a few days, so I can’t speak to the machine’s quality beyond saying it’s reviewed pretty well - but the software is all open source klipper with no locks preventing you from modifying it. The hardware itself is closed source, but if you want an open hardware machine in 2026 you need to build your own voron.

cjbgkagh•about 1 hour ago

Obviously it depends on what you’re doing and what is importante to you. It’s hard to beat Bambi Labs H2D or X2D for versatility, practicality, and price. Engineering filaments are getting a lot cheaper as the market expands so it helps to have a printer than can handle those. Given Bambi Labs is so cheap compared to the alternatives customers would probably be better off putting aside the savings to buy a second printer from a different supplier when one starts to catch up.

stavros•about 1 hour ago

Prusa is the most open of the printer manufacturers. They did have to backtrack a bit because Bambu copied their slicer to use for themselves and undercut them, but they're still as open as you can get in a capitalist economy.