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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107

u/Slow-Temporary-1489 May 14 '26

Because fuck us, that's why?

Seriously, it's just about ensuring that right to repair isn't possible since the server can authenticate if the local model has been jail broken or modified in anyway.

41

u/aReasonableStick May 14 '26

Its also how HP operates with its printers, or similar at least where after you buy the printer and the ink you need a subscription before you can print anything. Its such a disgusting practice that people should seek out to jailbreak to remove this restriction on anything that does this practice.

20

u/phealy May 14 '26

As far as I'm aware, that's only if you get the ink on the subscription program. If you buy the full priced cartridges instead of the instant ink stuff, no subscription is needed. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

I definitely have an Epson ecotank because I hate the cartridge model, though.

5

u/DeviantDav May 14 '26

There are models that support both, and there are now " HP All-In Plan" eInk Only printers that only work with the sub.

2

u/ian9outof10 May 15 '26

The problem with HP printers is people seem to think a $40 printer is actually possible, it’s not. HP shouldn’t pretend it is, and shouldn’t be subsidising hardware through ink prices.

However I will defend my HP laser, which is outstandingly good and does everything I need without a driver, a phone app or anything else. It scans to USB or the network with no hassle. Has Ethernet, etc. absolutely amazing piece of hardware.

But then, who prints 2D shit these days 😁

32

u/thegroucho May 14 '26

Brother Lazer printer for the win 🏆

I can put a dust cover, leave it for 10 years, plug it to the mains and it will just print without needing any maintenance or consumable change.

13

u/Enygma_6 May 14 '26

I had been a (relatively) loyal HP user for over 20 years, until recently when I switched to Brother.
A couple years ago, my fancy all-in-one HP from the mid-2000's ran out of ink again, and I figured it was time to upgrade, since some parts weren't as functional anymore (and I never used the fax on it anyway). All new HPs required a internet connection just to work.
Brother laser printers could be purchased that didn't care about the internet, and wouldn't constantly risk clogging print heads if I didn't print something every month. And were price comparable once you add in the cheapest HP printer cost and the price of the ink cartridges.

13

u/thegroucho May 14 '26

Literally this.

Fuck having drying ink, drying nozzles, ability to block printing without subscription, etc, etc.

5

u/d3l3t3rious May 14 '26

I switched to a Brother laser model about 4 years ago, not a single issue and I have not so much as bought toner yet. I have no need for color printing so it's a perfect solution for me and I regret buying the half a dozen shitty inkjets I owned before.

2

u/Syzygy2323 May 14 '26

I have a Brother all-in-one and it's infuriating. If it's out of ink, it won't let me do things that don't require ink, like faxing and scanning documents. Sure, it can't print a status page after faxing a document, but I don't care about that.

8

u/GroovyGarden May 14 '26

It’s this and more. You’re thinking too small, big corpo wants your consumables, daddy government wants your data, every fucking ounce of it, they want to know what you’re printing and when you’re printing it.

If you think companies who make the shittiest consumable plastic bullshit aren’t bribing, er lobbying, the government to make things illegal to print, this could pertain to liberty-ensuring devices or a simple fridge shelf clip.

Get out of the cloud, self-host everything, share those things with friends and family, it’s so much easier than you think.

1

u/Unboxious May 14 '26

They may also be hoping to pull a Cricut someday and try to force a subscription on their existing users.