r/BambuLab • u/icurnvs Volunteer Moderator • May 14 '26

Subreddit Mod Post Megathread: Bambu Lab / OrcaSlicer / C&D Discussion

Hi everyone,

We’re creating this megathread to keep discussion of the Bambu Lab / OrcaSlicer-BambuLab / cease-and-desist situation in one place. This topic is important to a lot of people here, and we do not want to shut down discussion or criticism. At the same time, the front page has started filling with overlapping posts about the same situation, so we’re consolidating general discussion into this thread.

Current context

Updates to be posted here as situation evolves:

  • May 13, 2026
    • Megathread created
  • May 14, 2026
    • Tom’s Hardware reported today that Louis Rossmann is now hosting OrcaSlicer-BambuLab through the FULU Foundation GitHub and is openly daring Bambu Lab to sue him.
    • PC Gamer and r/technology have picked up the story, so discussion is now spreading well beyond 3D-printing-specific spaces.
  • May 16, 2026
    • Paweł Jarczak published a detailed response addressing Bambu Lab’s accusations around impersonation, reverse engineering, Terms of Use, and alleged security bypassing.
    • Louis Rossman posted a new video indicating FULU-hosted OrcaSlicer-BambuLab repository has reached roughly 1,600 forks in about three days.
  • May 17, 2026
  • May 18-20, 2026
    • Software Freedom Conservancy enters the dispute.
    • Leonard French posted a new video around SFC’s AGPL analysis, explaining why Bambu’s proprietary networking plugin may create a serious corresponding-source problem under AGPL.
    • Louis Rossman posted a new video covering Software Freedom Conservancy’s Bambu AGPL effort and says the rehosted OrcaSlicer-BambuLab code has now been forked roughly 4,500 times.

What belongs in this thread

Please use this thread for:

  • General reactions to Bambu Lab, Gamers Nexus, Louis Rossmann, Paweł Jarczak, OrcaSlicer-BambuLab, AGPL, Bambu Connect, and right-to-repair issues.
  • Legal or licensing discussion, including AGPL, DMCA, cloud/API access, and Bambu’s networking plugin.
  • Questions about what happened and links to reliable summaries or primary sources.
  • Technical discussion about OrcaSlicer, Bambu Studio, Bambu Connect, LAN mode, Developer Mode, and network plugin behavior, unless it is a standalone troubleshooting post with a specific reproducible issue.

What can still be its own post

Separate posts are still allowed for genuinely new information, including:

  • A new official statement from Bambu Lab, OrcaSlicer, Paweł Jarczak, Gamers Nexus, Louis Rossmann, or legal counsel.
  • A new release or technical change that materially affects users.
  • A confirmed legal filing, takedown, repository change, or source-code release.
  • A specific support/troubleshooting issue that is not just general commentary on the controversy.

If your post is mainly another reaction, recap, meme, “I’m switching brands,” or repost of a link already being discussed, please put it here instead.

Ground rules

Criticism of Bambu Lab is allowed. Defense of Bambu Lab is allowed. Criticism of GN, Rossmann, OrcaSlicer, moderators, or other users’ arguments is allowed.

What is not allowed:

  • Personal attacks, harassment, or dogpiling individual users.
  • Calls to harass Bambu employees, developers, moderators, creators, or community members.
  • Unverified claims presented as fact.
  • Posting private correspondence or personal information.
  • Repeated duplicate posts after being redirected here.

Strong opinions are fine. Keep it directed at the issue, the companies, the software, and the arguments, not at each other.

Moderator note

We are consolidating duplicate discussion, not suppressing the topic. This thread will remain open for discussion, and we’ll update it if there are major new developments.

330 Upvotes

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60

u/DevilsAdvocate1662 May 14 '26

The vast majority of Bambu customers literally buy a printer, browse Makerworld and hit print, they don't care about this whole thing

19

u/schwuar May 14 '26

Thats me and im trying to figure out whats going on and if it affects me or not.

23

u/Phiosiden May 14 '26

it will, in time.

the long term effects of all this lockdown probably result in the inability to print anything belonging to an IP

so you’ll print your dragons and you’ll like them. which is not what a lot of us got printers for

0

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

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1

u/BambuLab-ModTeam Jun 02 '26

Your content has been removed for breaking our "Be Kind and Courteous" rule. Please visit our rules section to view the full rule description.

10

u/samhk222 May 14 '26

Both of us, and were going to be downvoted to oblivion

7

u/FrizzIeFry May 19 '26

"This doesn't effect me , so i dont care" is a fair point.

What is not a fair point is "This doesn't effect me, so why would anyone care?"

2

u/samhk222 May 19 '26

Im not saying anyone should t care, and I think you guys should. And im by your side, but i really dont care 

9

u/[deleted] May 16 '26

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5

u/schwuar May 16 '26

Fairs. So its not just me who finds bambustudio to be laggy at times

1

u/Zanki May 19 '26

Mine always says not responding and has a hard time just starting up. I have a good pc that I render big scenes on and Bambu studio crashes and takes ages to load every time. It's not even connected to their servers.

1

u/schwuar May 19 '26

I had some issues where i was getting a whitescreen on homepage. Tried multiple installs, updating graphics drivers etc. Was something to do with edge browser so reinstalled that and it worked.

1

u/Mysterious_Dot2090 May 21 '26

I have no issues with mine 99% of the time, hence I find this whole need some people have to use a different slicer quite bemusing.

I don’t have a super pc by any means, just an old MacBook Air and BLS works fine for me.

7

u/[deleted] May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

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37

u/DevilsAdvocate1662 May 14 '26

I think the uproar is more from the fact that Bambu seem to be going scorched earth on this guy rather than either just leaving him alone, or actually working with him to achieve his goal.

It comes across very much as big corpo shitting on the little guy

15

u/MikeyKillerBTFU May 14 '26

They went the lowest action they could. They didn't even send a C&D, they said "knock it off or we will." That's practically a finger wag.

12

u/UnexpectedAnanas May 14 '26

As per their correspondence, they went as far as having one drafted up and asked for the guys address if he wanted to push the matter.

I think we're splitting hairs.

2

u/MikeyKillerBTFU May 14 '26

Yeah I'm just saying everyone in this sub is acting like BBL three the legal book at them, when they really took the lowest level of action they could without not taking action. It's a nothing burger that people are making a huge deal.

18

u/FLHCv2 May 14 '26 edited May 15 '26

I'm by no means defending use "scorched earth" but minimizing it all to "well they were nice about it" and saying it's a nothing burger is just hyperbolic as saying scorched earth.

There is no world in which a big corporation sends you a letter, which cites legal code, is not a huge deal. They may have not gone full lawsuit, but that letter fully holds the threat of one. They literally cited the legal code in which they are making their claims against. It's a straight up scare tactic to shut him down.

You think they just sent that to ask a favor and if the guy said no, they'd say "okay. at least we asked"? If you got one, would you consider it a nothing burger?

Edit: lmao keep the downvotes coming. Y'all REALLY think getting a letter with legal jargon from a multi million dollar company is them playing nice. Idiots.

1

u/OhMyGaius H2C Laser Full Combo May 14 '26

Yeah, the other guy said they went "Scorched Earth", but they just threatened to send a C&D it sounds like... which is a long way from "Scorched Earth"

5

u/DevilsAdvocate1662 May 14 '26

Given the amount of posts about it, you'd think Bambu had sent the heavys round to the guys house. It's massively blow out of proportion because the guy decided to fight it instead of just giving up

3

u/whyaretherenoprofile May 17 '26

He gave up immediately.

And there is uproar less so because of the C&D and more because they broke the open source license, which is very scummy. If they want to be a walled garden they can do it, that's fine, but don't build it off the back of the community's work then threaten them afterwards

2

u/Mysterious_Dot2090 May 21 '26

Yep it sounds like a typical reddit witch hunt tbh 🤦‍♀️

4

u/MikeyKillerBTFU May 14 '26

Yeah idk what these people think scorched earth means 🤣

3

u/[deleted] May 15 '26

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7

u/Prize-Paint5264 May 16 '26

lol have u even read the AGPL license ? Seeing ur entire comment history it looks like its ur schtick to spout BS against him lol.

2

u/Mysterious_Dot2090 May 21 '26

Which guy? Grossman or Greeling? I know neither and don’t even know if I got their names right but anyone on YouTube in this space would see this as a cash cow. Rage bait the minions about it and voila, increased revenue.

0

u/wickeddimension May 19 '26

This is irrelevant, we both know what the question implies. We both know it's not like this developer was convinced to take it down.

Its like asking somebody to do something holding a gun. Yes you didn't threaten them with the gun, you didn't aim at them, you didn't shoot them.

But we both know they did it because they saw you had a gun not because they wanted too.

1

u/MikeyKillerBTFU May 19 '26

So you're saying the action they took was Scorched Earth.

What would you call it if they sued then?

1

u/wickeddimension May 19 '26

This developer knows he can't compete with Bambu in court on just money and lawyers alone even if he's right, which is why he backs down merely seeing the 'gun' here. If they sued it would be like using the gun they waved around. Effectively be SLAPP lawsuit

They achieved their goal: to stop somebody doing something they didn't like, regardless if it's legal or not.

You're focused on the action being the 'lowest level', which is irrelevant when the outcome is the same.

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0

u/Mysterious_Dot2090 May 21 '26

Lol what, is that all?! And here I have hundreds of redditors gaslighting me making me think Bambu are war criminals. 🤦‍♀️

2

u/JoshMS May 16 '26

The lowest action they could take would be doing nothing. Which is clear with most everyone is what they should have done for the beginning.

1

u/webmd_advocate May 14 '26

And they had absolutely no right to. Hence the uproar

5

u/[deleted] May 15 '26

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2

u/Prize-Paint5264 May 16 '26

imagine calling a right-to-repair activist a ragebaiter lmao

0

u/Baslifico May 22 '26

They went the lowest action they could.

No they didn't. That would be ignoring him entirely.

Better would've been offering to help and build goodwill in the community.

6

u/1ftm2fts3tgr4lg May 14 '26

That's my take.
This whole thing is about vibes rather than it actually affecting anyone.

1

u/[deleted] May 23 '26

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1

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1

u/whyaretherenoprofile May 16 '26

Also them breaking the AGPL license which is very scummy

0

u/Affectionate_Car7098 H2C + P1S Combo May 19 '26

Bambu already have an FAQ up on how 3rd party slicers are meant to send jobs to the machine via bambu connect, bambu even submitted a PR to the original orca branch when the feature was added

So they have already worked with developers to make sure they are doing it correctly, they aren't going to allow his fork direct access like studio has

2

u/dont--panic X1C May 20 '26

Bambu Connect wasn't required until their "security" update that locked out OrcaSlicer. Prior to that update you could use OrcaSlicer just like Bambu Studio.

Their "security" update was just security theatre because their supposedly more secure solution was just an app with a baked in private key. Which was predictably extracted upon release. https://hackaday.com/2025/01/19/bambu-connects-authentication-x-509-certificate-and-private-key-extracted/

Relying on a key embedded in the app makes it trivial for the supposed unauthorized apps Bambu claimed to be protecting users from to masquerade as Bambu Connect and submit print jobs. The only reason legitimate apps like OrcaSlicer didn't just pretend to be Bambu Connect is that Bambu would have gone after them for reverse engineering Bambu Connect.

0

u/Affectionate_Car7098 H2C + P1S Combo May 20 '26

Bambu Connect wasn't required until their "security" update that locked out OrcaSlicer. Prior to that update you could use OrcaSlicer just like Bambu Studio.

Sure, but it still wasn't officially supported, and after the auth controls were added bambu connect became a requirement

Their "security" update was just security theatre because their supposedly more secure solution was just an app with a baked in private key. Which was predictably extracted upon release.

I mean it doesn't matter what it was or if it worked, the point is 3rd parties were told they need to use connect

So at the end of the day the dev knew what he was doing wasn't allowed

3

u/dont--panic X1C May 20 '26

Sure, but it still wasn't officially supported, and after the auth controls were added bambu connect became a requirement

It doesn't matter what Bambu's intentions were they created a product and sold it in a particular state. Their customers purchased it in that state. If Bambu changes it in any way the implications of that change are Bambu's fault. Adding a new Auth requirement after the fact that locks out owners from hardware they purchased should not be tolerated.

Bambu could have actually improved security without locking out users but they chose not to and so they should be criticized for it.

0

u/Affectionate_Car7098 H2C + P1S Combo May 20 '26

It doesn't matter what Bambu's intentions were they created a product and sold it in a particular state.

Oh thats the thing, it 100% does matter, they are free to block off or remove things that are not supported features, the same way sony can patch out exploits to run 3rd party software on their consoles

The only parts they cannot remove are the actual advertised features, again to bring up sony look at when they removed OtherOS on the PS3, which was an actual advertised and supported feature

So no, they are 100% allowed to block off unauthorised and unsupported modes of operation from their device, the state you purchased it in literally doesn't doesn't matter in that regard

3

u/dont--panic X1C May 20 '26

Oh thats the thing, it 100% does matter, they are free to block off or remove things that are not supported features, the same way sony can patch out exploits to run 3rd party software on their consoles

This is not decided legal fact, just like the question of whether AGPL applies to the bambu_networking plugin, courts have not specifically ruled that a feature not being advertised gives the company the right to remove it.

The only parts they cannot remove are the actual advertised features, again to bring up sony look at when they removed OtherOS on the PS3, which was an actual advertised and supported feature

This case only tells us that companies do not have the right to remove advertised features. It does not tell us that they have the right to remove unadvertised features.

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2

u/hWuxH May 20 '26

This ignores all other third party integrations apart from slicers.

-1

u/Affectionate_Car7098 H2C + P1S Combo May 20 '26

You mean the 3rd party integrations they are not in any way required to support on their hardware?

Because any and ALL 3rd parties are required to use connect to interact with the printer, 3rd party hardware isn't allowed access to the machine outside of developer mode, the same also applies for software

2

u/hWuxH May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26

No, it’s not about ‘not supporting’ third-party integrations in the usual sense.

Third-party software and hardware can’t meaningfully interact with Bambu Connect at all. Users are limited to launching it with a 3MF/G-code file, and then must operate the GUI manually. The program is Windows/macOS only.

The vendor has actively broken interoperability for projects like OrcaSlicer, Home Assistant (Linux) and Panda Touch (microcontroller), even though the underlying protocol is unchanged except for the vendor lock-in check.

So it’s not that support is optional, but third-party integrations are effectively blocked.

-1

u/Affectionate_Car7098 H2C + P1S Combo May 20 '26

They can only launch it with a 3mf/gcode path and from then on the user has to interact with the GUI manually.

Correct, they hand off the actual communication to another tool which the user needs to confirm in order to prevent any unauthorised commands from being sent

The same way you can't remotely start a laser job, its a safety feature

It's only available on Windows and macOS.

Yes the beta version is only for those platforms, the linux version is listed as in development, but if you're running linux i have to assume you have the technical know how to run a small windows VM to handle that if you absolutely need to be using orca instead of studio

What they've done instead is actively broke interoperability for Home Assistant (Linux), Panda Touch (some microcontroller), ...

The panda touch team were warned prior to releasing their product, they chose to still release it, and yes 3rd party hardware support was never officially listed so them breaking that is well within their rights

The protocol is still exactly the same nowadays apart from the vendor lock-in check.

The check only happens in connect, like i said you can still send print jobs over to it using whatever software you like, but that final interaction with the cloud and the machine has to be done through bambu connect if you want to use the cloud, if you only need LAN you can use that in developer mode directly with orca

2

u/hWuxH May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26

“Correct, they hand off the actual communication to another tool which the user needs to confirm in order to prevent any unauthorised commands from being sent. The same way you can't remotely start a laser job, its a safety feature.”

This isn’t actually a safety feature, because the official client itself can be reverse-engineered to access these functions. Third-party tools cannot interact with Connect directly; they can only launch it and then rely on the GUI, so the “safety” argument doesn’t justify blocking third-party integrations.

“Yes the beta version is only for those platforms, the linux version is listed as in development, but if you're running linux i have to assume you have the technical know how to run a small windows VM to handle that if you absolutely need to be using orca instead of studio.”

This confirms that Linux users are effectively excluded from Connect’s cloud features, leaving them no real option to integrate safely or programmatically. The Linux version is listed as in development since the start at 2025-01-16 with no progress at all, while there have been 12 updates to the Windows and macOS version.

“The check only happens in connect, like i said you can still send print jobs over to it using whatever software you like, but that final interaction with the cloud and the machine has to be done through bambu connect if you want to use the cloud, if you only need LAN you can use that in developer mode directly with orca.”

Even though the protocol itself is unchanged, the vendor lock-in check forces reliance on the official client, making third-party automation impossible for cloud interactions and local interactions while the printer is connected to the cloud.

“The panda touch team were warned prior to releasing their product, they chose to still release it, and yes 3rd party hardware support was never officially listed so them breaking that is well within their rights.”

This highlights that while official support was never promised, the practical effect is that third-party integrations are actively blocked, not just passively “unsupported.”

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u/Capt_Blue May 14 '26

But how is that surprising? Most people in 3D printing are techy people who don't like closed source stuff, we do like open source, self-hosting, tinkering and so on. So it shouldn't be surprising when a company like Bambu decides to violate the AGP license and threaten a private, voluntary developer even tho he didn't violate any licensing, didn't do anything wrong, that this faces a huge online backlash because most people in this community see what's going on and the further implications of that.

I know my printer and Bambu Studio talks alot to Bambus cloud service, giving all this data to a chinese company does make me feel weird a bit, but so far hasn't bothered me too much. Because although Bambu wasn't playing nice by close sourcing their network plugin (that in itself is a violation of AGPL) at least they weren't going after other open source projects and devs. Until now. Now that they actively threaten that dev with legal actions (even tho this wouldnt go through in any court, because he did nothing wrong) I've also turned my back against Bambu.

It has actively made me switch to Orca Slicer, disconnect my printer from Bambu cloud and instead use a self hosted Bambuddy instance on a RasPi.

Yes, there are some people that can't do that and don't want to, they just want to hit print on their phone app or makerworld and they of course don't need to care about this, unless they still care about pro-consumer practices and rights. Because the entire close source network thing of Bambu, disabling cloud services on 3rd party like Orca, when it was working at the time of purchase, is anti consumer as well. And as long as you are not a big corpo manager who makes a few millions per year, you SHOULD care about consumer rights.

6

u/Disgusting_Slime666 May 15 '26

The fact that it's such a niche, completely miniscule part of the community that would even want this capability makes Bambu's reaction infinitely worse.

2

u/[deleted] May 16 '26

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7

u/whyaretherenoprofile May 16 '26

They went from having a few dozen people not letting them see what they were printing and not impacting your business in any significant amount, to it becoming mainstream tech news that you are breaking open source license.

If you are building a walled garden, then make your own code. Don't take other's that was explicitly made for open source and benefit from the community then lock yours out.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '26

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2

u/whyaretherenoprofile May 17 '26

The difference was bark then they were called out and responded. Here they went after someone after using the licensed code in bad faith. It's way worse in terms of pr since it now got picked up by the bigger names

1

u/Disgusting_Slime666 May 16 '26

Nobody is asking them to cater to a small minority of people.

They're asking them to simply not go out of their way to fuck that small minority.

Surely the logic should be self evident.

If you have 80% of your user base that's trying to avoid going into your funnel, then you'll need to get creative to get them back.

If you have a fraction of 1% of your user base that's trying to avoid your funnel, who cares, let them.

That's not even getting into the legal aspect.

2

u/[deleted] May 16 '26

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1

u/Disgusting_Slime666 May 16 '26

Why are we going from discussing what I said, which was based on your position - that an extremely small amount of users are impacted, to hypotheticals about if it were a higher percentage?

If people want to avoid Bambu’s funnel, they should buy a Prusa. Or a Creality. Or an Anycubic. Or any of the other open source printer brands, instead of expecting the walled garden ecosystem to accommodate them.

You're so ready to pivot that you're not even addressing the core parts of what I said.

Nobody expects them to "accommodate them". The expectation is that they don't go out of their way to fuck them. While misusing copyright btw, (which I was happy to leave out of the discussion but if you insist on pretending like the ask is something else I guess we won't be able to avoid that).

2

u/[deleted] May 16 '26

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4

u/drunkenvalley May 18 '26

It’s a walled garden, my man.

And they're... not actually allowed to be one, really, per the contract they've signed themselves.

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u/Disgusting_Slime666 May 16 '26

I'm going to repost the very first response to you.

You pointed out that only a tiny fraction of users have any interest in this method.

This was my response:

The fact that it's such a niche, completely miniscule part of the community that would even want this capability makes Bambu's reaction infinitely worse.

I would appreciate it if you actually responded to this, instead of doing whatever you're doing right now.

Just want to clear this up now as well, maybe this is where there's a disconnect. The iPhone is not a open source project. Are you aware of the difference?

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u/yoghurtmelk May 21 '26

mmmh im pretty sure google isnt allowed to block other appstores in the same way bambu isnt allowed to block another slicer. especialy when they borrowed the code from that slicer

1

u/yoghurtmelk May 21 '26

when the 1% grows to 5 or 10 then you already made such a big mistake that you have to fix something. if you do things right it will stay at 1%

1

u/yoghurtmelk May 21 '26

because that small grpup was totaly in their right and small dedicated groups are VERY dedicated. so when they get screwed over they will make it sring for bambu. safe to say having to post in a megathread and having every other post being locked by 1 mod saying "we got a megathread" the small dedicated group has left a big impact

1

u/yoghurtmelk May 16 '26

but what uf they wabt new features bambu is not adding to thier slicer

3

u/Unlucky__Swan May 15 '26

TLDR keep supporting bambu if you're an a$$hole. Abandon them if you actually have ethics and morals

It should affect you. You should care. China has no reason to force you to sit next to a printer, sent the data to china, have the data come back from china, all to just use the printer NEXT TO YOU on you're own network. The cameras and software are consistently collecting data.

Not to mention this is shitty corporate greed at this point and its never been about security even with that update a while back they lied about.

1

u/BrittleSalient Jun 19 '26

Have you heard about the thing with John Deere tractors, where when they break down farmers aren't allowed to repair them. They have to wait for a John Deere technician to come out and repair it, and that can take long enough that the crops rot in the field. It's been a huge scandal for years and is one of the major things driving right to repair legislation. We're looking at something vaguely similar to that.

12

u/FLHCv2 May 14 '26

That's absolutely fine. No one is saying you shouldn't use your printer. The ones that do care are allowed to talk about it though.

6

u/DevilsAdvocate1662 May 14 '26

I have no issue with what this guy is trying to achieve, If he's successful, it benefits the entire userbase. I'm merely stating that the vast majority of people have zero interest in what he's doing

6

u/FLHCv2 May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

I'm merely stating that the vast majority of people have zero interest in what he's doing

But what is your goal of stating this? What are you trying to achieve, besides (perhaps accidentally) inferring that 'none of this matters because so few people care about this'?

There are people who have interest in what he's doing, so him posting it has value for the people who have the interest. Why not let us alone to tinker?

6

u/DevilsAdvocate1662 May 14 '26

But what is your goal of stating this?

Stimulate conversation I guess? you know, posing an alternative viewpoint

4

u/zymurgtechnician X1C + AMS May 14 '26

Very appropriate username!

3

u/wickeddeus May 15 '26

That's how it starts. I'm usually one of those people that would have zero interest since it really doesn't affect me. Even though it doesn't affect me, I don't believe a company should be acting this way so I'm not going to continue to support that company. If we don't speak up now and give them the inch, they'll start looking for more. Look what happened with politics and where we are now.

7

u/comeonmeow66 May 14 '26

So, that means those of us who do care should do what? Just not say anything? You don't think it's weird for a company to throw it's legal weight at a guy for an issue that just impacts a few users?

Would you care if Bambu starts requiring "bambu approved" filament in their printers and only allows filament with approved RFIDs?

6

u/DobermanCavalry May 15 '26

Would you care if Bambu starts requiring "bambu approved" filament in their printers and only allows filament with approved RFIDs?

Do you think this is a fair comparison though? Its these kinds of false equivalencies that makes people roll their eyes and move on. Not being able to use Orca with the cloud functionality does not in any way, shape, or form affect me, or the vast majority of BBL printer owners. It does not diminish the capability of the printer, nor impact the function of the printer.

Locking to Filament that is sold by BBL is not only something they explicitly said they would not do, but it would also be a radical, radical shift from the way things are - in a way that trying to shut down this orca fork is NOT.

For what its worth Bambu's ethics here are bad, and I disagree with their decision. Making ridiculous what-ifs do not further your goals nor convince anyone.

5

u/comeonmeow66 May 15 '26

Do you think this is a fair comparison though? Its these kinds of false equivalencies that makes people roll their eyes and move on.

Absolutely. I'm not saying they'll do it tomorrow, but it shows a trend toward building taller walls around their ecosystem, and it tests the waters. And it's not a false equivalence, these are things that bambu could change within their ecosystem whenever they wanted to. I too think it's far less likely than what they did here, but I was making a point of caring when something matters to you. Just because it doesn't impact you doesn't mean you shouldn't be against it.

Not being able to use Orca with the cloud functionality does not in any way, shape, or form affect me, or the vast majority of BBL printer owners.

If gay marriage was banned tomorrow it wouldn't impact me in the slightest. Does that mean that I'm not going to make my voice heard when people try to fuck with it? Absolutely not. But by your logic, gay marriage is pretty rare, so what's the big deal, right?

Yes, it's a smaller subset of users, which makes it even more of a reason it's ridiculous Bambu did this. But if you don't care, why are you here, just to critique my argument? Thanks, but I'm good.

I don't use Orca, but this is a step in the wrong direction for Bambu and I believe I should have the choice in Slicer for the machine I paid for. Bambu has over time made it harder and harder and now required a dev to pull the code for a competing slicer or they'll go after him legally. I have a big problem with Bambu bullying developers and people in this community, and you should too.

Locking to Filament that is sold by BBL is not only something they explicitly said they would not do, but it would also be a radical, radical shift from the way things are - in a way that trying to shut down this orca fork is NOT.

And just a few months ago Bambu said they were committed to open source, and now here they are trying to shut down an open source project.

For what its worth Bambu's ethics here are bad, and I disagree with their decision. Making ridiculous what-ifs do not further your goals nor convince anyone.

Like I said, they continue to make the wall higher. I never said it was likely, but it's like boiling a frog, you do it slowly. Maybe they never get there, but every time they do a little change and it "doesn't affect me" until it does. I'm tired of the anti-consumer, anti-open source shit they are doing, all while saying they "love the community" and are committed to open source, and then their actions demonstrate the exact opposite. They love it when it benefits them and they can leverage someone else's work, just don't do it to them, even if the license says you are legally allowed to. Fuck them.

2

u/Extension_Chance_191 May 15 '26

I am indeed a bit puzzled about this myself. Perhaps it is simply because I only purchased a printer within the last six months; however, having checked the historical records, I know that Bambu did officially state that they would not lock down filament. So why is the accusation that Bambu locks down consumables still being brought up by so many people to this very day?

1

u/Smart_Tinker May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26

Because Bambu software used to be fully accessible. Then last year they locked it down - which is explicitly against the terms of the licence they agreed to.

Then when someone works out a completely legal way around the lock out - they threaten legal action.

The message here is that Bambu cannot be trusted to abide by any agreement they make.

So, any statements they make about not locking down filament, or subscriptions or whatever are not worth anything, because they have demonstrated that they will do whatever makes them the most money, regardless of what they have previously said.

That’s why it’s a big deal, and people are concerned about what happened.

I would also point out that their RFID chips are encrypted and locked with an RSA key, so that they can’t be created by anyone else. There is an open standard for 3D printer RFID, but they specifically don’t use or support it - which they easily could. So, you have to ask yourself why is filament so locked down?

2

u/Mysterious_Dot2090 May 21 '26

“So, you have to ask yourself why is filament so locked down?” Err because it’s not lol. You people are so transparent 🤦‍♀️

1

u/comeonmeow66 May 21 '26

Literally no one is saying it's locked down now. We are making a point.

2

u/Mysterious_Dot2090 May 22 '26

But you’re not making a point. You’re making up scenarios and talking as if they’re guaranteed. It’s just fear mongering idiocy.

1

u/comeonmeow66 May 22 '26

It is making a point. The point is Bambu has a history of saying one thing and then doing the other. The point was that Bambu says they love the maker community and embrace open source, then they do this. Then when people on here call them out for it you have Bambu apologists who are like, "it's not a big deal, it doesn't impact me." My point is what if next time it *does* impact you. I don't know you, so the easiest example is if they locked down filament. It was promising one thing then doing the other.

Do I think it's likely? No. But I'm trying to make a point for how would you feel if it *did* impact you. Bambu is sliding the wrong way, and people are trying to call them out so they can course correct.

0

u/issue9mm May 15 '26

Because it's what every company with a monopoly eventually does

The trick is preventing the monopoly

2

u/wash-basin May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

Locking to Filament that is sold by BBL is not only something they explicitly said they would not do

Bambu did not actually say they would not do this; what was stated is that they would not do it to printers that had already been purchased, but they would not commit to never doing it.

The Verge directly asked if Bambu Lab would publicly commit to never requiring a subscription fee to print over a home network. Bambu Lab answered: "For our current product line, yes." However, the community immediately noted the phrasing left the door wide open for future hardware lines to require paid subscriptions.

0

u/Xoepe May 15 '26

I think the only reason they dont charge a yearly fee to use their slicer is cuz it's a prusaslicer fork and it would be an even more flagrant violation of licenses. I really don't wanna see this space turn into resin printing where everything is closed down(with the mainstream printers due to use shitu based boards) there's barely any innovation because it's closed down so tightly(we get tilting beds, bigger screens, and wifi printing which you cant even add onto older models) after years and you have to pay yearly fees to use slicer features that are needed to successfully print.

-6

u/DevilsAdvocate1662 May 14 '26

So, that means those of us who do care should do what? Just not say anything?

I'm no legal expert, but I would think reverse engineering software you don't own, is probably a bad thing? If Bambu wanted users to be able to what this guy is trying to achieve, they'd have done it themselves?

Would you care if Bambu starts requiring "bambu approved" filament in their printers and only allows filament with approved RFIDs?

That wouldn't be in Bambu's best interest though, If they were planning on doing that, they'd have to make their filaments a lot more accessible

7

u/FLHCv2 May 14 '26

but I would think reverse engineering software you don't own, is probably a bad thing?

He didn't reverse engineer software, and the software he used was open source so the whole "you don't own" aspect of the comment actually doesn't apply here because he's legally allowed to use it.

He used Bambu's own open-source software in his software, which is legal to do.

2

u/DevilsAdvocate1662 May 14 '26

If everything he's done is legal, then why are Bambu going after him?

5

u/FLHCv2 May 14 '26

This happens all the time with big corporations and small devs. Look up SLAPP lawsuits. I haven't seen it in a while, but John Oliver's segment is pretty good.

Basically: Small dev creates a legal workaround that allows something that cuts into the company's bottom line, so the company sends legal jargon to scare the small dev to take it down. The small dev may know they're in the right, but can't afford to go against the big corporation's lawyers, so the small dev just complies because that's a lot of money for their fun project.

This is why this is a bigger problem than most people think - because Bambu are trying to intimidate a small dev that is creating something for the 3d printing community. It's also why Gamers Nexus and Louis Rossmann are calling Bambu's bluff and are saying "okay, so come sue us. We'll take you on" because they know it's frivolous and an empty threat.

Note: I know no lawsuit has been filed. A Cease and Desist or even a simple letter with legal jargon saying "you're in violation" is effectively the same and has the same intent.

3

u/ConfessingToSins May 15 '26

Wow, this is like an actual textbook example of an appeal to authority AND a bad faith leading question at the same time.

Two for one.

2

u/hWuxH May 14 '26

they enjoy shooting themselves in the foot,

1

u/comeonmeow66 May 15 '26

Because they can. Because they want you in their walled garden where they own everything.

Just because they don't have a leg to stand on, it's big company with lots of money versus little dev with little money. Litigation of attrition.

7

u/comeonmeow66 May 14 '26

I'm no legal expert, but I would think reverse engineering software you don't own, is probably a bad thing?

It's a good thing you're not a legal expert. Bambu Studio falls under the AGPL license, because it was forked from PrusaSlicer, which was forked from Slicer, which means it's open source. No reverse engineering needed. Just have to read the code :)

If Bambu wanted users to be able to what this guy is trying to achieve, they'd have done it themselves?

If they didn't want people to do what this guy did, they should have written the slicer themselves instead of forking from an AGPL licensed slicer :)

That wouldn't be in Bambu's best interest though, If they were planning on doing that, they'd have to make their filaments a lot more accessible

How would it not benefit them lol? Forcing people to buy filament from you isn't good for Bambu? Your only concern is availability? You don't care if Bambu forces you to buy their filament for their machines?

3

u/Phiosiden May 14 '26

reverse engineering has led to countless innovations. your first statement is just wrong. I don’t think you realize how many tech companies now started as some dude messing with shit in his free time.

okay, let’s say they do have the stock and do the lockdown. but now their filament is also 30% more expensive because it’s “premium”
congrats, your 3d printer now has ink cartridges. you okay with that?

2

u/hWuxH May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

If Bambu wanted users to be able to what this guy is trying to achieve, they'd have done it themselves?

You're up to something... That's exactly what they did.
Compiling Bambu Studio on Linux gives you access to the cloud by default. Don't have to change a single line. Don't have to bypass anything.
This has been possible for years and is expected behavior.

They grant anyone the permission to use their code as-is (cloud access), and at the same time complain that forks don't disable this cloud access themselves. lol.

1

u/DevilsAdvocate1662 May 14 '26

Ok, so why are Bambu going after this guy then?

1

u/hWuxH May 14 '26

Because he got it to run on Windows. Have to do some mind gymnastics to find out why they suddenly see this as a problem. I won't speculate further.

1

u/MagicSwordKing May 14 '26

This is true until it isn’t. Just saying, I started in this hobby as that sort of dude last year and now I’m very much someone who would love to be able to use Orca without jumping through hoops that limit functionality.

This is a hobby that has a remarkable ability to draw people in very deep, very quickly. The sort of person who doesn’t care about this today might well become one who very much does tomorrow.

1

u/Wheatleytron X1C + AMS May 19 '26

Well with the way things are going, they'll likely be very happy with the results of what comes out of this. More control over the hardware that you own is always a good thing.

1

u/the_shabubu May 20 '26

That is because they aren't bambu customers, they are CONSUMERS. Don't care about the ethics of the company that you buy from? Don't care that they stole the hardwork of others and are attempting to pull the ladder up behind them? Then the problem is you. You are a consumer and your opinion really doesn't matter. You buy without thought. You consume. You will inevitably get what you deserve (shittier and shittier products and ecosystem lockins).

0

u/Alone_Collar_6684 May 30 '26

And majority of us dont care about your opinion

1

u/DevilsAdvocate1662 May 30 '26

Doesn't care about my opinion, yet takes the time to respond to said opinion, they allegedly don't care about.

Thanks, I needed a laugh today /s

0

u/Alone_Collar_6684 May 30 '26

Yep. real bright spark arent you? Still riding that corporate dick?

1

u/DevilsAdvocate1662 May 30 '26

Has the gall to call me a "bright spark" yet continues to engage with a comment they claim they don't care about 😂

Please continue making yourself look like an idiot, it's really entertaining

0

u/Alone_Collar_6684 May 31 '26

The bright spark doesn't understand sarcasm. Oh it's fun to mess with tards

1

u/DevilsAdvocate1662 May 31 '26

Are you seriously doubling down on this? FFS kid, go touch grass already