cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/opensource/p/1823177/3d-printer-reviewers-being-honest-in-this-industry-will-put-you-out-of-a-job
This is the emails between the YouTuber YGK3D and Anycubic, it seems like they won’t send 3D printers to reviewers who mention their GPL3 license violations.
tl;dr Anycubic uses open-source software for their firmware, but doesn’t make it public as per license agreement, and they don’t seem to be friendly to anyone who calls this out.
More info: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxIMpZTkXqFo0H6pDwhZpdYqMYvLhPvWA5?lc=UgxA-4LYvwrnonXuXsZ4AaABAg
Strongly suggest not going with Bambu, they have a history of attempting to start a walled garden ecosystem, the only thing that has stopped them thus far is backlash.
Yeah ironically one of the reasons I used an Anycubic, because while they may have issues with FOSS compliance, the firmware I did load on there (Rinkhals) isn’t
It depends on what you want out of the hobby honestly. 30 years later, I just want a printer that works, without fuss. I’ve done the customizations, I’ve done the firmware flashes and attached third party controllers. But I’m a huge fan of my Bambu P2S, because it just works. In over 300 hours I’ve only had 2 failed prints. I haven’t done one iota of really anything to it. Plugged it in, and the things just been chugging away. Lots of parts availability, locally and online (which is huge). Lots of support available locally too.
My previous printer, an Anycubic coincidentally, used to take like 4 or 5 false starts before you could finally get a good first layer.
I get the hate, I get that people want customization and what not. But some people just want shit that works. That’s why I look at Bambu as the McDonalds of 3d printing. It ain’t that healthy for you, it’s a scourge on the planet, but it also tastes kinda good and it’s a guilty pleasure from time to time, right?
Yes theres Prusa and all sorts of other printers that are good too, don’t take this the wrong way. Run your own journey for sure. But I’m running mine too.