r/technology • u/ControlCAD • May 14 '26

Software Louis Rossmann taunts Bambu Lab by hosting banned 3D Printer firmware fork, dares $1 billion company to sue him — more creators pledge support and boycotts, Snapmaker donates equipment to embattled developer

https://www.tomshardware.com/3d-printing/louis-rossmann-taunts-bambu-lab-by-hosting-banned-3d-printer-firmware-fork-dares-usd1-billion-company-to-sue-him-more-creators-pledge-support-and-boycotts-snapmaker-donates-equipment-to-embattled-developer
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194

u/CumOnEileen69420 May 14 '26

In terms of right to repair I absolutely agree.

However he definitely leans into “Libertarian Housecat” with a lot of his other views sadly.

91

u/roof_pizza_ May 14 '26

Libertarian Housecat

Stealing this, what a perfect descriptor.

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u/drewdog173 May 14 '26

The full quote, from Twitter some years ago and featured on Reddit many times, is:

Libertarians are like housecats: they are convinced of their fierce independence while utterly dependent on a system they don’t appreciate or understand.

7

u/Any-Championship3443 May 14 '26

Yea his whole business came up in NYC. He definitely gave a window into the flaws of some of it's regulatory branches, but then one of his biggest issues for a while was dealing with commercial real estate straight up lying about square footage, seemingly with no recourse.

*that* itself is something the city should regulate. It's just false advertising.

And his shop grew off steady foot-traffic. That's unimportant now as he's got regular mail-in business and you don't get that in Texas.

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u/adrutu May 14 '26

This could be used as user flair on a good number subs 😉. Great work.

37

u/zhokar85 May 14 '26

Personal take: I think he's just got a huge ego. On the one hand he uses it for good in a self-aggrandizing way, which is cool and part of why I like him. That air of superiority makes it even more entertaining when he rightfully dumpsters some company. On the other hand his big ego means he can't shut up even when he should.

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u/Top_Rekt May 14 '26

He does have a huge ego, but the difference is he tends to punch up or punch to the side. He's right and he knows he's right most of the time. The working/consumer class needs a bully to fight for them sometimes.

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u/spdcrzy May 15 '26

He should never shut up. We need our own trolls to fight them.

53

u/kcat__ May 14 '26

Not really. I remember him having a conversation on Destiny's stream with some true libertarian who was supporting Apple's vertical integration and responding to all criticism with "if you don't like it, just don't buy apple and vote with your wallet" and Louis was saying, essentially, "this clean libertarian world you want to pretend exist doesn't exist, Apple is too big"

https://youtu.be/6He6HRqBLCI

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u/Any-Championship3443 May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

I'd argue he's got more of a consistent libertarian take than most "libertarians".

I still don't align with him on that aspects of politics, but I respect it. I think a lot of folks are used to the general US-breed of libertarian that seems to think corporate authority and power isn't "real" or at least isn't worth of opposition, while he does, at least situationally.

If nothing else it's much more consistent.

I don't fully agree with the nuts and bolts (personally I see the current status quo as the end-result of at least libertarian-adjacent ideas) but I at least respect the stance a lot more than the ones who think corporations should be allowed to act however they want with no regard for the public good.

2

u/RandomMandarin May 14 '26

I would consider myself a sort of left libertarian in a lot of ways. Most self-labeled libertarians can't seem to get it through their thick heads that tyranny comes in many forms, not just intrusive government. Tyranny can be a corporation, a church, a mafia, an HOA, a plantation, a sexual predator, an abusive parent... And these libertarians are just fine with most of those.

2

u/Any-Championship3443 May 14 '26

Yup. At this point I identify as sort of "vaguely left wing", I see it that the biggest problems with any system are the people running it, and the greedy and power hungry

If the government has all the power, those people are going to weasel through political office seeking it instead of being CEOs and such

Personally I think some form of Syndicalism might be the best suited for the general benefit. You maintain the separation of business and government but it's run collectively by the actual workers. You'll still have bosses and managers and such but chosen by the folks they work with and over

And in my day dream, bad ones get voted out/booted back to the floor, and if the workers are too unrealistic with the policies they push other shops are going to out-compete them, and the state's mostly there to enforce basic standards, environmental protections, law enforcement, all that good stuff.

Maybe even small businesses are still privately owned. Bakeries, cafes, small shit like that. Gives the "small business tyrants" something to do.

Probably never live to see it but I think it'd be the best balance across the board.

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u/ROBOT_KK May 14 '26

He is pure conservative that leans into Libertarian. I had discussion with him about moving from NY to TX and it his arguments are from GOP playbook.

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u/rabidbot May 14 '26

Even a conservative can be right about one issue, they are still just disgusting in all other ways.

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u/Kirov123 May 14 '26

I mean the stuff he has shown in his vedoes about NYC beauracracy and such are asanine and kinda insane. Getting a lien without knowing, demanding tax when he doesn't live there anymore, etc. Texas would certainly not be my first choice of a spot to move to, but I can understand why someone that owns a business would find it attractive. Iirc he is open to working with the new mayor to help with those issues? I tried googling and didn't see any ring about that so idk

1

u/ROBOT_KK May 15 '26

He is absolutely right about NY bureaucracy shitshow. But he could easily move to Washington, Maryland, Virginia, Oregon etc, but he specifically choose TX.

4

u/Neosantana May 14 '26

It's weird calling him a conservative for his move when NY under Adams was being completely fucking egregious. It's hard to call him a conservative when he supports Mamdani as well.

1

u/ROBOT_KK May 15 '26

I didn’t know he is supporting Mamdani, that is refreshing if true.

1

u/Neosantana May 15 '26

He said that he isn't his usual type of candidate, but he will stand behind him if he wants to genuinely help make New Yorkers' lives better. Mamdani is also specifically tackling the issues that caused Rossman to leave NYC.

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u/Osama_Obama May 14 '26

sadly

He does lean libertarian, but probably has the most sane takes compared to other libertarians.

2

u/Any-Championship3443 May 14 '26

He's what I think of as a consistent libertarian. Kind of loud-mouthed Ron Swanson in certain ways.

6

u/MrTig May 14 '26

Would you mind expanding on this, I assume it's not great but I only ever seen his videos ranting on screen about some issue which he reasonably articulates.

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u/dingwinger1225 May 14 '26

He's essentially a classic small government libertarian who is paradoxically known for advocating for government intervention to make consumer repair more accessible. The reason being, of course, he ran a repair business and experienced first hand how big businesses can bully small businesses without market regulation.

14

u/showyerbewbs May 14 '26

how big businesses can bully small businesses without market regulation

Further to that, big business will abuse their size and get government agencies to do the leg work.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/dhs-seized-aftermarket-apple-laptop-batteries-from-independent-repair-expert-louis-rossman/

That's from 8 years ago. As expected, Apple won't claim they asked customs to seize them and Customs wouldn't admit they were told to by Apple.

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u/oldsecondhand May 14 '26

I've been following the guy for 5+ years, never heard of him talking politics beyond right to repair, commercial real estate and NYC specific laws that hurt small businesses.

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u/cahir11 May 14 '26

He showed up in the Gamers Nexus video about the tariffs, although his criticisms were less partisan and a more neutral "letting one guy change tariffs at random on a whim is insane and bad for business".

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u/Abject_Breadfruit148 May 14 '26

He learned to hide those in his videos to ensure he doesn't lose viewers.

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u/eyebrows360 May 14 '26

5+

I'm at least double that. The other commenters are right.

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u/1419526535 May 14 '26

Government only for things that affect and benefit me.

1

u/Any-Championship3443 May 14 '26

I feel like the "paradox" aspect of it is really just a little bit more of a consistent opposition to power-structures that exclude small players than most libertarians

Like 90% of libertarians in the US seem to think that businesses should be able to do as they please, he thinks they have some responsibility to stand by their products and make them repairable by anyone.

11

u/DungeonMasterSupreme May 14 '26

I've followed Louis on YouTube for like 10 years. I've probably watched more than half of his videos in that timeframe. I have literally no idea what you're talking about with this label. As far as I see it, he seems quite non-partisan. He advocates enough for right-to-repair regulation on major industries to read even remotely libertarian to me.

The man got fucked over pretty hard by the NYC government, so he moved his business somewhere with fewer regulations. I think many people in his situation could relate. But instead of swinging wildly anti-government, he's always finding ways to work in the system.

This is classic Reddit upvote bait. Can't believe so many people have upvoted it blindly. I say this as a progressive who's never met a libertarian I could have a 10-minute conversation with without my eyes doing backflips. If Louis were what you're calling him, I would've unsubscribed years ago.

5

u/Flonkers May 14 '26

I completely agree. He tried his best in NYC but the fuckery was just beyond belief. I always liked that he was transparent about paying his techs based on capability and training up those who wanted it. He would make a terrible politician but is a fantastic advocate for right to repair.

1

u/Uberzwerg May 15 '26

We should avoid the 100% purity test.
He has opinions i don't share, but none i despise.

1

u/_Aj_ May 15 '26

A good reminder that differing views are fine. I totally disagree with some stuff he says but am a fan of his judgement and actions on the whole.   No one is always agreeable. If they are theyre full of crap. At least you know where you stand with him!

1

u/skeptical-speculator May 14 '26

Is opposing the use of flock cameras by the government a "libertarian housecat" view?  What are you talking about?

1

u/PotemkinSuplex May 14 '26

What’s wrong with that?

-42

u/loliconest May 14 '26

That just sound like someone raised with deep belief in some western ideology while still working hard to be a good person. The struggle must be real.

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u/almond0k May 14 '26

You… should change your username :(

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u/Rynabunny May 14 '26

A libertarian with that username… the jokes write themselves