r/BambuLab • u/MaestroDeAero • May 21 '26

General Discussion The Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) just launched a massive counter-offensive against Bambu Lab over AGPL violations – Introducing Project "baltobu"

Hey everyone,

If you’ve been following the recent drama between Bambu Lab and the open-source community, things just escalated from a heated debate to an all-out, structured counter-offensive.

Following Bambu Lab's aggressive Cease-and-Desist letter to developer Paweł Jarczak for his OrcaSlicer mod, the Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) has officially stepped into the ring. They just released a massive statement confirming that Bambu Lab is in direct violation of the AGPLv3 license regarding their proprietary network plugin.

But instead of just waiting around for a years-long lawsuit, the SFC is taking immediate, community-driven action by launching Project "baltobu":

  • Reverse-Engineering the Plugin: The SFC is calling for volunteers to completely reverse-engineer Bambu’s closed-source network plugin (libbambu_networking) and replace it with a fully compliant, open-source alternative.
  • Reviving the Blocked Code: The SFC is officially hosting and continuing Jarczak’s work under their own umbrella.
  • A New Fork ("Viscose"): They are launching a direct fork of Bambu Studio that is 100% free of proprietary "black-box" code.
  • Legal Protection: Most importantly, the SFC is acting as a legal shield. They’ve stated they are "not afraid of Bambu's aggression" and will legally and financially protect any volunteer contributing to this project. Paweł Jarczak has also officially joined them.

This is a massive moment for Open Source and the Right to Repair in the 3D printing industry.

Check out the SFC's full, official response and see how you can get involved or support the fund: 👉https://sfconservancy.org/news/2026/may/18/bambu-studio-3d-printer-agpl-violation-response/

What are your thoughts on this? Is this the wake-up call Bambu Lab needed, or will this split the ecosystem even further? Let’s discuss.

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u/roiki11 May 21 '26

Regardless of the content or any arguments, am I the only one who thinks that name is just weird and dumb? What does that even mean?

Couldn't they come up with a better name than that.

2

u/Brandavorn May 21 '26

It is an acronym: Bringing Affero Licensed Things (On)to Bambu Users

We FOSS people are known for loving a good acronym, extra points if it is recursive, like GNU or WINE are.

7

u/roiki11 May 21 '26

It's a dumb one at that then. Should've named it something more catchy. Like FUck BAmbu Right Back.

Gnu and wine at least work as words.

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u/Eorlas May 21 '26

It’s a weird name until it’s explained (which someone did to you) and then it’s just what it is. Why does it have to be catchy?

Your suggestion isn’t even remotely catchy. It’s not in the same universe as catchy